UNSC Slams ’Israel’s’ Illegitimate Somaliland Recognition

By Staff, Agencies

The majority of United Nations Security Council member states have condemned "Israel's" recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland in the Horn of Africa, with several nations expressing concern that the move could significantly impact the situation of Palestinians in Gaza.

Monday's emergency meeting to address the issue was convened following "Israel's" unprecedented decision last week to become the first and only entity to officially recognize the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign nation.

Addressing the UN Security Council, Somalia’s UN ambassador, Abu Bakr Dahir Osman, urged members to vehemently denounce “Israel's" “act of aggression.”

He emphasized that the move posed a serious risk of partitioning Somalia, while also jeopardizing stability across the broader Horn of Africa and Red Sea regions.

Osman specifically expressed concern that Somalia viewed the step as a potential effort to push forward "Israel’s" plans to forcibly relocate the Palestinian population from Gaza to Somalia's northwestern region.

Speaking on behalf of the 22-member Arab League, its UN envoy, Maged Abdelfattah Abdelaziz, said the regional organization dismissed “any measures arising from this illegitimate recognition aimed at facilitating forced displacement of the Palestinian people, or exploiting northern Somali ports to establish military bases.”

China’s UN envoy, Sun Lei, said his country “opposes any act to split” Somalia’s territory.

“No country should aid and abet separatist forces in other countries to further their own geopolitical interests,” he noted.

South Africa’s UN envoy, Mathu Joyini, also said her country “reaffirmed” Somalia’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity” in line with international law, the UN Charter and the constitutive act of the African Union.

Pakistan’s deputy UN ambassador, Muhammad Usman Iqbal Jadoon, said at the meeting that 'Israel’s' “unlawful recognition of [the] Somaliland region of Somalia is deeply troubling.”

He noted that the recognition was made “against the backdrop of 'Israel’s' previous references to Somaliland of the Federal Republic of Somalia as a destination for the deportation of Palestinian people, especially from Gaza.”

The US stood alone at the UNSC in declining to condemn “Israel’s” recognition of Somalia’s breakaway Somaliland region, while insisting its own position remains unchanged.

Tammy Bruce, the US deputy representative to the UN, told the council that “'Israel' has the same right to establish diplomatic relations” as any other party.

However, Bruce added, the US had “no announcement to make regarding US recognition of Somaliland, and there has been no change in American policy.”