Somaliland orders arrest of ‘Somalis’ following end of 14 days ultimatum

Somaliland government has announced an arrest order on ‘non-Somalilanders’ following the lapse of 14 days ultimatum amid sharp criticism locally and internationally.

Sanaag region acting governor Mohamed Khalif Nur Monday ordered police in the region to arrest ‘foreigners’ from Somalia especially those from South West state who are in Somaliland illegally.

“The 14 days ended yesterday. Today our duty is to arrest anyone who is not a citizen of Somaliland,” said Nur. “If you are a person who is not legally present in this country, we have a duty to arrest anyone who is not a citizen of Somaliland.”

The arrest order follows mass evictions of people from southern Somalia particularly from South West state. The UN estimates that over 7,000 people have since being evicted from Somaliland.

Evictions started in the first week of October and the Muse Bihi administration has vowed to evict more people. He defended the evictions on ‘security’ grounds.

The international community said in a joint statement last week the evictions amounted to violation of human rights and urged Hargeisa to halt the forceful evictions.

In Erigavo, businesses were closed on Monday as the owners from South West state fled following the lapse of the two weeks ultimatum.