Involuntary Migration in Somalia: the Politics of Resettlement

Peter J. Schraeder

doi:10.1017/S0022278X00007242

Involuntary Migration in Somalia: the Politics of Resettlement

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2008

Peter J. Schraeder

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The resettlement of nomads recently has become a renewed topic of interest within the literature on development. The general purpose of most schemes is to sedentarise nomadic peoples through farm or manufacturing co-operatives to be able systematically to provide them with the necessities of existence, including health services and education, and to reduce their vulnerability to the vagaries of their day-to-day search for green pastures and water. Nomadism has been defined as ‘the movement of the household during the annual round of productive activities’, while its polar opposite, sedentism, is ‘the immobile location of the household during the annual round of productive activities’.1

Type: Articles
Information: The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 24 , Issue 4 , December 1986 , pp. 641 - 662

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X00007242 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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^{Page 641 note 1} Salzman, Philip Carl, When Nomads Settle (New York, 1980), p. 10.Google Scholar

^{Page 641 note 2} Lewis, I. M., ‘The Dynamics of Nomadism: prospects for sedentarization and social change’, in Monod, Theodore (ed.), Pastoralism in Tropical Africa (London, 1975).Google Scholar

^{Page 641 note 3} Gudran, and Hjort, Anders, Having Herds: pastoral herd growth and household economy (Stockholm, 1976).Google Scholar

^{Page 641 note 4} Jamal, Vali, ‘Nomads and Farmers: incomes and poverty in rural Somalia’, in Ghai, Dharam and Radwam, Samir (eds.), Agrarian Policies and Rural Poverty in Africa (Geneva, 1983).Google Scholar

^{Page 641 note 5} Salzman, op. cit.

^{Page 641 note 6} Galaty, John G. and Salzman, Philip Carl (eds.), Change and Development in Nomadic Societies (Leiden, 1981);Google ScholarKonczacki, Z. A., The Economics of Pastoralism: a case study of sub-Saharan Africa (London, 1978);Google Scholar and Haakonsenn, Jan M., ‘The Fishing Cooperatives for Resettled Nomads Revisited: a report presented to the Ministry of Fisheries, Somali Democratic Republic, and the FAO, Rome and Mogadishu’, Labour Studies Group, McGill University, Montreal, 1980.Google Scholar

^{Page 641 note 7} Elizabeth Colson, a noted anthropologist of the Gwembe Tonga, made this point perfectly clear during a discussion at the University of South Carolina in 1986. Those wishing to focus on such a sensitive subject as the politics of resettlement run a number of risks – even if their research proposal is not rejected, mobility may be restricted once in the country, and they may be denied readmittance for a second or third stage of their study at a later date.

^{Page 642 note 1} ‘Country Reports: Somalia’, in The Courier (Brussels), 94, 1985, p. 17.Google Scholar

^{Page 642 note 2} Somali Democratic Republic, Ministry of Information and Guidance, Development of the Re-Settled Society (Mogadishu, 1982), p. 9.Google Scholar

^{Page 642 note 3} Palmer, Gary, ‘The Ecology of Resettlement Schemes’, in Human Organization (Washington, D.C.), 33, 3, 1974, pp. 239–50.Google Scholar

^{Page 642 note 4} Thayer Scudder, ‘Commentary on Gary Palmer's “The Ecology of Resettlement Schemes”’, in ibid. 34, 3, 1975, p. 309.

^{Page 643 note 1} Hansen, Art and Oliver-Smith, Anthony, Involuntary Migration and Resettlement: the problems and responses of dislocated people (Boulder, 1982).Google Scholar

^{Page 643 note 2} E.g. Eichenbaum, Jacob, ‘A Matrix of Human Movement’, in International Migration (Geneva), 13, 1–2, 1975, pp. 21–41;Google ScholarKunz, E. F., ‘The Refugee in Flight: kinetic models and forms of displacement’, in International Migration Review (New York), 7, 2, 1973, pp. 125–46;Google Scholar and Peterson, William, ‘A General Typology of Migration’, in American Sociological Review (Washington, D.C.), 23, 3, 1958, pp. 256–66.Google Scholar

^{Page 643 note 3} Hansen and Oliver-Smith, op. cit. p. 268.

^{Page 644 note 1} Lewis, ‘The Dynamics of Nomadism’, p. 429.

^{Page 644 note 2} Salzman, op. cit.

^{Page 644 note 3} Konczacki, op. cit. p. 8.

^{Page 644 note 4} Irons, William, The Yomut Turkman: a study of social organization among a Central Asian Turkic speaking population (Ann Arbor, 1975).Google Scholar

^{Page 644 note 5} Mohammed, Abbas, ‘The Nornadic and the Sedentary: polar complementaries – not polar opposites’, in Nelsen, Cynthia (ed.), The Desert and the Sown: nomads in the wider society (Berkeley, 1973), pp. 97–112.Google Scholar

^{Page 644 note 6} Konczacki, op. cit. p. 3.

^{Page 645 note 1} Salzman, op. cit. p. 14.

^{Page 645 note 2} Ibid. p. 16.

^{Page 645 note 3} Lewis, ‘The Dynamics of Nomadism’, p. 437.

^{Page 645 note 4} Ibid.

^{Page 646 note 1} Konczacki, op. cit. pp. 60–1.

^{Page 646 note 2} National Refugee Commission, Refugees in Somalia: policies, needs and perspectives (Mogadishu, 1984), p. vii.Google Scholar

^{Page 646 note 3} Other refugees have been crossing into Somalia during 1986 in order to escape from the Ethiopian villagisation campaign. See Rule, Sheila, ‘To Fleeing Ethiopians: Somalia offers squalor’, in New York Times, 12 07 1986, p. 6.Google Scholar

^{Page 647 note 1} The term ‘Ogaden’ is employed throughout this article to describe what Somalis call ‘Western Somalia’ or ‘Eastern Abyssinia’, while Ethiopians describe this region as ‘Eastern Hararghe’ or ‘Eastern Ethiopia’.

^{Page 647 note 2} Somali territory was divided by the colonial powers, with parts going to French-ruled Djibouti, British-ruled Kenya, and Ethiopia. For the historical background of Somali irredentism, see Touval, Saadia, Somali Nationalism: international politics and the drive for unity in the Horn of Africa (Cambridge, Mass., 1963). For an analysis of how the pursuit of irredentism has affected Somalia's relations with its neighbours,Google Scholar see Drysdale, John, The Somali Dispute (London, 1964),Google ScholarHoskyns, Catherine (ed.), Case Studies in African Diplomacy, Vol. II, The Ethiopia-Somalia-Kenya Dispute, 1960–1967 (Dar es Salaam, 1969),Google ScholarFarer, Tom J., War Clouds on the Horn of Africa: the widening storm (New York, 1979),Google Scholar and Shehim, Kassim and Searing, James, ‘Djibouti and the Question of Afar Nationalism’, in African Affairs (London), 79, 315, 04 1980, pp. 209–26.Google Scholar

^{Page 647 note 3} National Refugee Commission, op. cit. p. ix.

^{Page 647 note 4} For an excellent overview of this topic, see Lewis, I. M., Nationalism and Self-Determination in the Horn of Africa (London, 1983).Google Scholar

^{Page 648 note 1} United States Agency for International Development, Somalia: country development strategy statement, FY 1987 (Washington, D.C., 1985), p. 27.Google Scholar

^{Page 648 note 2} Lewis, I. M., ‘From Nomadism to Cultivation: the expansion of the political solidarity in Southern Somalia’, in Douglas, Mary and Kaberry, Phyllis M. (eds.), Man in Africa (London, 1969), pp. 59–77.Google Scholar PubMed

^{Page 648 note 3} Lewis, ‘The Dynamics of Nomadism’, p. 434.

^{Page 649 note 1} The constitution of 1961 states that the reunification of the Somali people will be pursued in Djibouti, the Ogaden, and the N.F.D. by peaceful and legal means. This strategy changed in 1971. Rather than make an ‘official’ claim to the areas in question, Somalia instead has insisted on the right of ‘self-determination’ for all Somali peoples, knowing fully well that they would unite together upon being granted independence.

^{Page 649 note 2} Love, Jan and Sederberg, Peter, ‘Euphony and Cacophany in Policy Implementation: SCF and the Somali refugee problem’, African Studies Association Meeting, New Orleans, 20–3 November 1985, p. 10.Google Scholar

^{Page 649 note 3} National Refugee Commission, op. cit. p. xv, my emphasis.

^{Page 650 note 1} Love and Sederberg, op. cit. p. 13.

^{Page 650 note 2} For more information on the intentions of the D.F.S.S., see its quarterly journal Midnimo (Addis Ababa), and for the S.N.M., see General Guidelines on the Policies of the Somali National Movement (Addis Ababa, 1981).Google Scholar See also Shaw, Anthony, ‘Barre's Balancing Act’, in Africa Report (Washington, D.C.), 30, 6, 1985, pp. 26–9.Google Scholar

^{Page 650 note 3} The Isaq clans have been weakened by the Government because of their alleged support for the S.N.M. For example, the north-west region of Somalia has been reduced in size so that this is now almost entirely inhabited by the Isaq, while the Gaderbursi and Issa, who predominate in the new region of Awdal, do not allow the S.N.M. to have the free movement which was the case when the Isaq were dominant within the entire region.

^{Page 651 note 1} Interview, Abdi Awaleh Jama, University of South Carolina, Columbia, 1986.

^{Page 651 note 2} Rule, loc. cit. p. 6. Although referring to the arrival of predominantly Oromo refugees, the reaction of Mohammed Omar Jess can be applied to Somalia's refugee stand in general.

^{Page 651 note 3} Love and Sederberg, op. cit. p. 17.

^{Page 652 note 1} Quoted in ‘Country Reports: Somalia’, p. 16.

^{Page 652 note 2} Tucker, Jonathan B., ‘The Politics of Refugees in Somalia’, in Horn of Africa (Summit, N.J.), 5, 3, 1983, p. 23.Google Scholar

^{Page 652 note 3} Ibid. p. 22.

^{Page 652 note 4} ‘Country Reports: Somalia’, p. 17.

^{Page 653 note 1} Tucker, loc. cit. p. 26.

^{Page 653 note 2} Ibid.

^{Page 653 note 3} ‘Somalia’, in Africa Report, September–October 1985, p. 46.

^{Page 653 note 4} National Refugee Commission, op. cit. p. 31.

^{Page 654 note 1} ‘Somalia’, p. 46.

^{Page 654 note 2} For an analysis of living conditions at another camp, see Rule, loc. cit. and Thompson, Michael Day, ‘Tug Wajale: toujours l'urgence’, in Réfugiés (Geneva), 30, 1986, p. 13.Google Scholar

^{Page 654 note 3} Quoted in ‘Country Reports: Somalia’, p. 18.

^{Page 655 note 1} Laitin, David and Said Samatar, S., ‘Somalia and the World Economy’, in Review of African Political Economy (Sheffield), 30, 1984, p. 64.Google Scholar

^{Page 655 note 2} Haakonsenn, op. cit.

^{Page 655 note 3} Lewis, ‘The Dynamics of Nomadism’.

^{Page 655 note 4} International Labour Office, Economic Transformation in a Socialist Framework: an employment and needs oriented development strategy for Somalia (Addis Ababa, 1977), p. 117.Google Scholar

^{Page 656 note 1} U.S. A.I.D., op.cit. p. 11.

^{Page 656 note 2} ‘Somalia: a social and institutional profile’, report prepared for the U.S. A.I.D. by the African Studies Center, Boston University, 1983, pp. 24–5.

^{Page 656 note 3} Love and Sederberg, op. cit. p. 31.

^{Page 657 note 1} Ibid. p. 32.

^{Page 657 note 2} Kibreab, Gaim, African Refugees: reflections on the African refugee problem (Trenton, 1982), p. 104.Google Scholar

^{Page 658 note 1} The Somalis refer to these ‘secessionist guerrillas’ as ‘freedom fighters’, while they are known in Kenya as shiftas, a derogatory term meaning ‘bandits’.Google Scholar

^{Page 658 note 2} Merryman, James L., ‘Pastoral Normad Settlement in Response to Drought: the case of the Kenya Somali’, in Hansen and Oliver-Smith (eds.), op. cit. p. 118.Google Scholar

^{Page 658 note 3} Ibid. p. 113.

^{Page 659 note 1} Ibid. p. 115.

^{Page 660 note 1} Laitin, David, ‘The American-Somali Military Alliance: whose agenda?’, in Transafrica Forum (New Brunswick), 2, 5, 1985, p. 39.Google Scholar

^{Page 661 note 1} ‘Première vague de rapatriement vers l'Ethiopie’, in Réfugiés, 24, 1985, p. 35.Google Scholar

^{Page 661 note 2} Quoted in ‘Country Reports: Somalia’, p. 22.Google Scholar

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