§ Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Nicholas Baker.]
10.35 pm§ Mr. Alun Michael (Cardiff, South and Penarth)I am grateful for the opportunity to raise some of the issues that concern the people of northern Somalia—that is, the area which has sought independence as the Republic of Somaliland, although, understandably, it has not been recognised as an independent state. That part of Somalia has suffered terribly in what has been described as the "hidden war" over the past 10 years, and now there is the threat of a hidden descent into disaster and despair for the people of that part of the world.
I do not seek to minimise the problems of southern Somalia, but the links with the United Kingdom, and with the Somali community in the United Kingdom, are largely with the north, and it is to this country that the Issaks and the people of the north look for help. I know that my concern is shared by members of the all-party group—people such as my hon. Friend the Member for Bow and Poplar (Ms. Gordon), who has described the problems experienced in her constituency.
I first came across the Somali community when I was a community worker in the docks area of Cardiff, where there was tremendous respect for the service that Somalis had given over a century or more to the Merchant Navy both in war and in peacetime.
As I have said, the north of Somalia suffered terribly under the regime of Siad Barre. There was a hidden war which resulted in destruction and death. Hundreds of thousands of people were affected and fled into refugee camps. The war led to people joining their families in the parts of the United Kingdom in which Somalis have settled, and thus to a flood of refugees to this country. We all hoped that the overthrow of President Barre would bring about unity among the opposition groups, which would lead to a fresh start and an established Government in which the people of Somalia as a whole could place confidence. Instead, the problems have become even worse. There has been a split in the south, and the people in the north have been left out of the discussions. Those people need our help, as we needed theirs in wartime, and I hope that we shall not let them down.
On 10 December the Minister answered a question of mine by saying:
There is no government in Somalia commanding national acceptance. Factional fighting continues, and is particularly heavy in Mogadishu. The north of Somalia, which is relatively peaceful and stable, has purported to declare independence. Local leaders have promised a referendum and elections in 1993."—[Official Report, 10 December 1991; Vol. 200, c. 391.]She also noted that the north's purported secession had not been recognised. Her description of the situation remains true, except that possibly things have become worse during the intervening period. I am glad to see that the Minister is showing that she agrees with me on that point.I am worried about the way in which the United Nations is dealing with the situation. I received a letter from the office of Mr. Jonah which appeared to suggest that the groups at war in Mogadishu, in the south, were the two halves of a potential government. That is not so, because those are the two halves of the United Congress 1084 movement, which has no right or claim to be recognised as the Government of Somalia, either as two halves or even if it became united.
We all want peace to come to the south as quickly as possible, but there are two major fears about the situation that could then develop. I am sure that the Minister agrees that at the moment there is little likelihood of peace between the warring factions in the capital or in the surrounding area. However, were peace to come about in Mogadishu and the surrounding area, the first fear is that the Government of Ali Mahdi, or whoever leads any coalition in the south, would be internationally recognised as the legitimate Government when the leaders of the north and of other regions have not been part of the process and do not recognise that Administration.
The subsequent fear is that this could lead to an attempt by the south to dominate the north, as it did with some legitimacy but with great cruelty under ex-President Barre, leading to another horrific and bloody civil war. My understanding is that a number of nations, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have refused to recognise the Government led by Mr. Ali Mahdi. There has also been no recognition, as I mentioned earlier, of the Republic of Somaliland in the north. The problem, however, is that the United Nations reports, and some others, have referred to matters as though the bringing together of the two halves in the south would be the end of the story. It would not.
I do not think that the issues which I am raising are a matter of controversy between the parties in the House. Indeed, great interest and sympathy has been shown by the Minister for Overseas Development. On this side of the House, a great deal of interest has been shown by my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Kaufman) and by my hon. Friends the Members for Cynon Valley (Mrs. Clwyd) and for Swansea, East (Mr. Anderson). My hon. Friend the Member for Swansea, East is sitting on the Opposition Front Bench tonight.
I am appealing not for a change of attitude but for the Government to inject a greater sense of urgency—perhaps I should say an even greater sense of urgency—into the way that the international community is responding to the situation in Somalia. I am asking the Minister to give an undertaking that, even during the election period, United Kingdom Government officials will take the lead for which our international partners, both in Europe and in the wider international community, look to us. I am asking her to give an undertaking that they will seek to persuade the international community, and the United Nations in particular, to take the responsibility that no leader in Somalia can take, that no sectional group in Somalia can take and that the people of Somalia as a whole cannot choose to exercise, because there is no mechanism by which they can choose an Administration that would give them the peace that they desire.
It is clear now that international action is the only way forward and that the alternative is a continuation of the misery, pain and death and a descent into even greater chaos. However, it must also be, as I have already stressed, the right type of intervention, which recognises the reality of the situation in Somalia.
The United Nations appears to place hope in the attempts of Mr. Ali Mahdi to form an Administration. I understand that he resigned some three times in November and December but was persuaded to continue, given encouragement from the United Nations and the 1085 international community; that there have been reconciliation meetings on some 13 occasions; and that there has been encouragement of the belief that a United Nations peacekeeping force would go to Somalia were some form of agreement to be reached. It seems, however, that a great deal of that is unrealistic.
At the moment, as I understand it, in the north-west —in the area of Somaliland—there is a Somali National Movement-led Administration which has achieved some relative peace and that further to the east and south the Democratic Front for the Salvation of Somalia is the dominant force and that as one goes further south the conflict between the forces of General Aideed and M r. Ali Mahdi has led to relative chaos and to the killing that we have seen in recent weeks on our television screens. Further to the south and west, the Somali Patriotic Movement in the Ogaden controls some areas and there is still a residual element that supports ex-President Barre. Such a fragmented situation gives no hope that the problems can be solved from within Somalia or that peace is likely to be achieved in the short term.
I should like to draw attention to much of the information that is available from many expert individuals and the non-governmental organisations, particularly a report prepared by Mr. John Drysdale, a copy of which I have sent to the Librarian of the House. Mr. Drysdale was in the colonial service in British Somaliland and was a former consul-general and foreign affairs adviser to the Somali Government. He invested a good deal of time and effort in the affairs of Somalia and has much knowledge of it. He has tried to help Somalia as a united state in the past.
It seems from all those to whom I have spoken in recent weeks that there is a growing consensus that the civil war in Mogadishu has effectively removed any form of central Government in Somalia and any organisation with which those currently in control in the north could reach agreement, whether it be agreement for the continuation of Somalia as a single entity or agreement leading to secession of part of it, as is the aspiration of those in the north.
The almost total disruption of food and medical aid and the absolute bankruptcy and lack of public services in the south are frightening. The situation in the former north-west regions of Somalia—the former British protectorate—and the indefinite delay in recognising the independence of that area lead to serious and continuing problems. Membership of the United Nations and international recognition are precluded. Therefore, institutional aid through the World bank and the International Monetary Fund is not forthcoming. Consequently, a central bank cannot be established, trade and Government revenue are seriously curtailed, a civil service and the forces of law and order cannot be paid and development expenditure for the huge reconstruction requirements are impossible. All the work that is needed on the country's infrastructure if people are to achieve even a minimum standard of living cannot be brought about.
The visit of the United Nations Joint Agency Assessment Commission to Somaliland between October and December last year was postponed four times because of the security situation in Mogadishu. Mogadishu is more than 1,000 miles away, but the investigative visit was still postponed. The tragedy is that, because they are unable to generate revenue and do something to help themselves in 1086 Somaliland, the Government are without an administration and the group that has miraculously held the embryonic state together for more than a year is now, not unexpectedly, showing signs of instability. Because there is no international recognition and support, there is, in effect, a weak Government who are open to disruptive political forces, both externally and internally. That is why they desperately need our help.
There are places where this Parliament recognises that there is a need for action within the boundaries of what has previously been a sovereign state. We have seen that in Yugoslavia. My predecessor in the constituency, now Lord Callaghan, referred to the need for the international community to deal with the prohibition of the interference by other states in the internal affairs of a member state. Surely that must be reviewed in a situation such as this when nothing can be done from within to achieve peace and satisfactory redevelopment. We heard only this morning that about 10 children a day are dying in refugee camps such as those near Jijiga and the international situation is extremely difficult.
As the report of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee says, there is a need for international action even when a sovereign state is being dismembered. I appeal to the Minister and to the House to recognise that those in the north of Somaliland will be in a hidden state of disaster unless we take a lead and persuade the international community to give them the help that they so desperately need.
§ Mr. John Bowis (Battersea)I am grateful to the hon. Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Mr. Michael), my co-chairman of the parliamentary Somali group, for allowing me to chip in. Parliament is at its best on such occasions. Despite all the domestic storm and stress, we are capable of adopting a cross-party approach to consider, with the ministerial grain, the particular problems of the people of Somaliland and Somalia.
In recent years the Horn of Africa has been buffeted by Marxism, civil war, famine, disease and economic chaos. As the hon. Gentleman said, there is still chaos and anarchy in the south of Somalia. There is no semblance of law and order or government. It would be absurd for the international community to do more than hope, and what little it can, to bring the conflicting sides together. However, it should not recognise the south as an independent nation with a Government in any shape or form.
The north has the one commodity that the south lacks—hope. There is a degree of stability on which we must capitalise as quickly as possible. The regime in place is, in essence, a Government with whom we can deal and whom the people of the north can respect.
What are needed now from the international community are aid, trade and political good will. With that, the tiny seed of democracy and economic management in the north will begin to grow. The United Nations, the European Community and the United Kingdom have all played their part. I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Minister and her team at the Overseas Development Administration for what they have sought to achieve in the north. We now need to release more of the aid that is destined for Somalia because that could do good work in the north.
1087 The United Kingdom has a special relationship with Somalia, which was built as a result of service in the Merchant Navy and in war time. From east London to Wandsworth and in many of our port towns, one can find Somali Communities—they have taken the same route as that taken by the Huguenots.
There are five stars in the Somali flag—the stars of Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Ogaden and the Somalis of Kenya. One of those stars is our particular concern, the star of the old British Somaliland. People from that part of the country feel pride in that relationship; I hope that we share that. I hope that my right hon. Friend will continue to do all that she can to ensure that the star continues to shine in that sad part of the world as we help the people of Somaliland to move towards some form of peace and progress.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mrs. Lynda Chalker)I am grateful to the hon. Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Mr. Michael) for raising the recent deeply disturbing events in Somalia. I am also grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Mr. Bowis). As he said, it is entirely right that we should be considering the tragedy in Somalia, which has become steadily more horrific. No one who has seen the recent television reports from Mogadishu could think that such concern, even with an impending election, is misplaced.
When the former President, Mohammed Siad Barre, fell from power just over a year ago, there was some hope, as the hon. Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth said, that Somalia might now enjoy stability, peace and economic development. Instead, the clan groups who had opposed Barre resorted to violence to resolve their own differences. The result was anarchy and an appalling humanitarian crisis.
The hon. Gentleman is right to draw our attention to the complexity of the situation, but it is even more complex than he and my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea described. There is no generally accepted Government and the country has fallen into the hands of feuding clans, each armed to the teeth. Attention is understandably focused mainly on Mogadishu, where the worst of the fighting has taken place. There, the forces of the interim President Ali Mahdi and the United Somali Congress chairman General Aideed confront each other. Each claims to represent the legitimate Government of Somalia, but in practice each represents only a specific sub-clan.
§ Mr. MichaelThe right hon. Lady refers to Ali Mahdi as the interim president, but surely that has no legitimacy.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe hon. Gentleman knows that Ali Mahdi's Government is something that he states, but which we put in inverted commas because we recognise states and not Governments, so the question does not arise. Over the past year, we have sought to maintain informal contact with the main factions in Somalia, but none of the contacts has any Government-to-Government dealings. The attempt last year to form a Government commanding national acceptance failed as a result of the clan and sub-clan rivalries. Our dealings with Somalis are 1088 therefore much more complicated and reflect the fact that one must be in contact with an enormous number of different groups.
The separate clan militias throughout Somalia are each taking control of particular small regions of the country. I shall deal in detail with the situation in the north a little later, but even the Isaaq who have the heartland of the northern part of Somalia are at odds in the west with the Gadabursi and in the east with the Wasangeli and the Dolbahante. There is clan and inter-clan fighting right across the north, and the situation is very complicated and getting worse.
As a result of the fighting in the central and southern parts of Somalia, it has become virtually impossible to deliver aid to the millions affected. Food distribution in Mogadishu is at a virtual standstill. Medical supplies for the non-governmental organisation medical teams in Mogadishu working alongside the Somalis have to be flown in daily.
The security situation is now so bad that aid workers, including the International Red Cross, have been forced, for their own protection, to employ armed guards to enable them to conduct even the most minimal of relief operations. I am sure that the House will join me in praising the continuing bravery and dedication of those aid workers. Against the greatest odds, they have continued to work inside Somalia, tending to the overwhelming number of wounded and malnourished victims. We offer special condolences to the families of the aid workers and the innocent Somalis killed in this mindless fighting.
What makes the situation so very serious in Mogadishu is that there is a complete breakdown of the traditional social disciplines of Somali society. The elders are no longer respected and even the so-called military leaders have only the most tenuous control over their troops.
In these tragic circumstances, we have to look very hard for any signs of hope, but there are some signs. On 23 January the United Nations Security Council, under the British Presidency, adopted resolution 733 on Somalia. This called on the United Nations Secretary-General to increase United Nations humanitarian assistance, and to co-operate with regional organisations in seeking the agreement of the Somali factions to a ceasefire and the beginning of the process of political reconciliation. The resolution also established an arms embargo.
The United Nations Secretary-General, in conjunction with the Organisation of African Unity, the League of Arab States and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, invited representatives of the Mogadishu warring factions to New York. At this meeting on 14 February, agreement was reached for a cessation of hostilities. The parties also agreed then that a ceasefire should be formally signed in Mogadishu.
The representative of the Secretary-General, Under-Secretary-General James Jonah, visited Mogadishu last week. He succeeded in negotiating a ceasefire agreement between the forces of Ali Mahdi and General Aideed. Regrettably, once again, the ceasefire signed on 3 March has suffered the same fate as similar agreements in the past —it has not held.
James Jonah hopes that he has persuaded the Mogadishu factions to agree to the dispatch of a technical team to work out the monitoring of the ceasefire, once it 1089 gets started. The next step will be for the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council. Then it will be for the Council to consider whatever recommendations the Secretary-General may make in this respect.
We shall continue to give our fullest support to the Secretary-General and his reprsentatives in their efforts to end the fighting. It is exactly because the needs of all the Somali people are so great that I spent some time yesterday speaking to James Jonah in New York. I was able to discuss with him some of the detail, to encourage urgent action to be taken and to assure him of our fullest support for his efforts to bring about and maintain peace and some sort of order in Somalia. We warmly welcome the participation of the Organisation of African Unity in United Nations efforts. The Africans must join in the search for a proper, lasting settlement in Somalia.
Some have suggested that United Nations troops might be used in Somalia to enforce a peace or to permit secure aid distribution. It may come to that, but there is no sign yet that the Somali factions would be prepared to accept such a move, were it to be contemplated. A ceasefire cannot be imposed by force from outside, and this is the dilemma that faces the international community. The plain fact is that no Government would be prepared to put the lives of their soldiers at risk in the absence of a genuine ceasefire not only agreed to but adhered to by all the factions involved.
We shall continue to do all that we can to provide financial support for those agencies seeking to bring humanitarian relief to those suffering from the effects of the civil war in the south. We have contributed to a wide variety of United Nations, International Committee to the Red Cross and NGO programmes which address both emergency and rehabilitation needs. Since January 1991, Britain has provided over £8 million in humanitarian assistance to Somalia, of which £2.29 million was made available recently to the Red Cross and Save the Children for food and medical supplies for Mogadishu and the south. The ICRC has been implementing a relief plan with the United Nations over the past few weeks, but it is clear that a major United Nations relief effort is required in all parts of Somalia if we are to avert an even more serious tragedy.
I turn now from Mogadishu to northern Somalia where the so-called Republic of Somaliland was declared in May 1991. I understand the views of both the hon. Gentleman and my hon. Friend. They have shown great tenacity in arguing for the interests of the people of this region, whence the majority of the British Somali community originate. We share their concerns that the interests of this region, which suffered terribly in the fight against Siad Barre, should not be overlooked by the inevitable preoccupation with the tragic events further south. Along with the rest of the international community, we have not recognised the secession of Somaliland, but this has not 1090 prevented us from maintaining regular official contacts with representatives of the Somali National Movement, which took power in the north last year.
Nor has the lack of formal diplomatic recognition prevented the British Government from continuing to provide humanitarian assistance to the north. The region faces appalling problems. We are in very close touch with a number of agencies working in the north, and in the past year we have committed £1.87 million in emergency relief to NGOs working there. We have funded projects such as the rehabilitation of the water system in Hargeisa and Burao through Oxfam, medical programmes run by Save the Children Fund, and a rehabilitation programme in Sanaag run by Action Aid. We were also pleased to contribute to a mine-clearing programme by the British firm, Rimfire, which will help rid the region of its estimated 1 to 1.5 million unexploded mines. Most recently, I approved a grant of £150,000 to the International Red Cross for veterinary assistance to the important livestock sector. We are ready to do more. We have encouraged the European Commission to provide what aid it can to the north.
We had been able to consider this degree of assistance because, unlike the south, for much of last year northern Somalia appeared to be stable. Sadly, that is no longer the case. Fighting has broken out between clan militia in several of the major towns. Aid agencies have recently had funds stolen, their staff abused and their warehouses looted. We are urging our partners in the United Nations and the EC to ensure that full attention is given to the need to stabilise conditions in the north. Otherwise, there is a real risk that the north will go the way of the south, in a downward spiral of clan fighting, food shortages and banditry. Until the fighters see some source of revenue other than looting, peace will be hard to come by. We are discussing with the United Nations what more might be done. I am not satisfied that the United Nations agencies have yet addressed seriously enough the problems of this region. I will continue, despite the election, to do all that I can to bring real action on the part of the United Nations to the people of Somalia.
As in the south, lasting peace and reconciliation can come only from the Somali people themselves. We cannot impose it from outside. That is why we shall not lose sight of the Somali situation as a whole, in the understandable concern with the horror of Mogadishu, and also the horrors elsewhere. We hope that Somali leaders themselves will also have learnt from recent events that the international community can provide the assistance which is so desperately needed only if they also commit themselves to a policy of peaceful resolution of their disputes. I hope that that message at least can go from this House to the people of Somalia tonight. We wish them peace, but it will be a difficult job to achieve.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Adjourned accordingly at five minutes past Eleven o'clock.