PRESS STATEMENT:
Somalilandsun- The government of Somaliland has termed any attempts to encroach on its territorial waters by the Somalia Federal Government as an infringement on its integrity as a sovereign nation.
This was stated by the minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mohammed Bihi Yonis in a press statement in which he also said “Somaliland’s Constitution, adopted by popular referendum in 2001, and its 1995 Fisheries Law confirm the Government of Somaliland as the sole governing authority over the territory of Somaliland and its adjacent maritime zones”
Read the full verbatim excerpts of the press statement below.
Quote – In response to the apparent signature on 30 July 2013 of a maritime law enforcement contract between the Ministry of Defense of the Federal Government of Somalia and private maritime security group Atlantic Marine and Offshore (AMO), the government of the Republic of Somaliland wishes to reiterate that it does not recognize, and rejects outright, any attempt by the Federal Government of Somalia to control, regulate or seek to exercise Jurisdiction in the waters adjacent to the territory to Somaliland.
On 18 May 1991 Somaliland reasserted its independence, a status that it briefly enjoyed following the end of British colonial rule on 26 June 1960, just prior to its voluntary entry into union with Italian Somalia.
Somaliland’s Constitution, adopted by popular referendum in 2001, and its 1995 Fisheries Law confirm the Government of Somaliland as the sole governing authority over the territory of Somaliland and its adjacent maritime zones, and its exclusive right to exercise jurisdiction and sovereign rights within its territorial and maritime boundaries.
The Government of the Republic of Somaliland welcomes efforts by the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) to strengthen the security of its maritime zones in accordance with international law. The Republic of Somaliland has been cooperating with the international community and the FGS on issues of regional maritime governance, security and resource management through the “Kampala Process.
The Process was initiated in 2010 as a platform for technical cooperation, and was recently endorsed at the 2013 London Conference on Somalia.
The governments of Somaliland and Somalia are currently working together to finalize a Maritime Resource and security Strategy aimed at consolidating cooperation in several maritime security areas, including piracy, illegal fishing and toxic sate dumping.
The Strategy aims to strengthen collaboration and ensure greater coordination of donor assistance, in line with the Ankara Communiqué signed by the two Governments in April 2013 as part of the bilateral Somalia-Somaliland Dialogue.
The Government of the Republic of Somaliland looks forward to continuing the Dialogue on the basis laid out in the Ankara Communiqué
Mohammed Bihi Yonis
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
LAMA HURAAN WAA CAWS JIILAAL-Unquote
Related article
Somaliland:¬†“Territorial Waters Firmly Under Control of the Government” ‚ÄìWaran’ade
Via: http://somalilandsun.com/
