UK
Hammond's
Stakeout On
Somalia, Has
No Somalia
Questions, EU,
Syria
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 9 --
When UK
Foreign
Secretary
Phillip
Hammond came
to the UN to
chair a
meeting on
Somalia, then
out to the
stakeout to
take
questions, one
assumed they
would include
Somalia.
But
no.
Hammond's
spokesman,
standing up in
not wearing a
poppy, picked
four
questions: the
first from the
BBC, repeating
David
Cameron's
comments about
the European
Union; the
next about
Iraq and
Syria; the
third about
when British
"holidaymakers"
may return to
Egypt, and the
fourth about
Vienna, Syria
and ISIS.
Before
the third and
fourth, Inner
City Press
said,
"Question on
Somalia?" And
as Hammond
walked off,
Inner City
Press asked
more loudly,
"Somaliland?"
Nothing.
That
was it. This
on a day when
the Security
Council is to
belatedly
meet about
Burundi,
on which the
UK has cited
threats of
genocide.
After
Hammond's
non-Somalia
questions and
answers, the
media stakeout
was nearly
empty when the
UK Presidency
adopted a
Presidential
Statement on
DR Congo,
without even
reading it
out. What does
this say about
the place of
Africa?
Back on June 3
when the UN's
(now outgoing)
envoy in
Somalia
Nicholas Kay
took questions
via Twitter,
Inner City
Press asked
him what the
UN is doing to
preserve the
ability to
send
remittances to
Somalia, as
well as
questions
about
Burundian
"peacekeepers"
and
Somaliland.
Kay
answered the
remittance
question:
"@innercitypress
Raising our
voice to sound
alarm on
impact
if
Somali
remittances
stop. Urging
search for
solutions.
#UNSomTwoYears."
Inner City
Press notes
the cut-offs
of remittances
not only by
Barclays Bank
in the UK and
Merchants Bank
of California
and new First
American Bank
in the US, but
also Westpac,
which is a
member of the
UN Global
Compact.
Should it be?
On
the Somaliland
question,
while Kay to
his credit has
answered
informally,
the request
for an
#OnTheRecord
statement was
not responded
to at this
time.
(Kay will be
in New York
next week,
including at
IPI.)
A
question that
he did not
respond to,
but others
did, was this:
"What's the
impact of
situation in
Burundi on
continuation
of country's
'peacekeepers'
in AMISOM?"
There are
photographs of
Burundian
"peacekeepers"
returned to
shoot live
fire at
protesters,
and another
being referred
for a D-1 post
in Herve
Ladsous's
mission in
Mali, MINUSMA.
We'll have
more on this.
Inner City
Press received
this
communication
/ request, and
published it
here:
"I
follow your
investigative
work and
applaud the
questions you
pose to UN
officials. I
am writing to
you because I
would like you
to follow-up
with the UN,
specifically
UNSOM, on the
press release
that was
issued by my
family on the
tragic and
targeted
killing of my
uncle, MP
Yusuf Dirir.
Below you will
find a copy of
the same press
release that
was forwarded
to Mr.Nicholas
Kay. We have
not received a
response and
as you can
imagine, we
are frustrated
by UNSOM and
the UN's
silence on
this issue."
This didn't
fit in a
tweet, but it
should be
answered.
Watch this
site.
Back
on May 9 when
the UN's
outgoing
humanitarian
coordinator
for Somalia
Philippe
Lazzarini held
a press
conference at
the UN in New
York, Inner
City Press
asked him
about the
impact of
money transfer
and remittance
being cut off,
about the
future of the
Dadaab refugee
camp in Kenya
-- and about
Puntland and
Somaliland,
where people
fleeing Yemen
are landing. Video here.
Lazzarini said
that
remittances
have been cut
from the UK,
US, Australia
and more
recently
Kenya; the
latter country
might
reinstate some
of the money
transfer
companies, he
said. Returns
to Somalia
from Dadaab
should be
voluntary.
In response to
Inner City
Press'
question about
the
involvement of
some parts of
the UN, and of
the
International
Organization
for Migration
in screening
refugees
including for
“counter-terrorism,”
Lazzarini said
that the
government of
Somalia is
concerned
about
returnees who
might have
joined certain
groups while
in Yemen. Can
you say, Al
Qaeda in the
Arabian
Peninsula?
There is more
transparency
needed,
however,
particularly
from IOM.
Lazzarini
has previously
answered
Inner City
Press about Somaliland's
airspace.
On May 8 when
Inner City
Press asked
about the UN's
dealings with
Somaliland and
Puntland, he
said it is a
big topic, but
concretely the
deadly attack
on UNICEF in
Puntland means
one can no
longer say
Puntland more
safe than,
say,
Mogadishu. But
what about
Somaliland? We
will have more
on this.
Lazzarini is
headed next to
Lebanon; we'll
continue to
cover his and
the UN's work
there, and
wish him luck.
, 
