Text of report by the Somaliland weekly newspaper The Republican on 26 February

Historically the role played by the United Nations organization in the former Somalia can be best described as one that has been characterized by gross mismanagement of resources and political bias. So few Somalis have probably been surprised by the recent disclosure that some UNHCR officials stationed in Nairobi had possibly, over the last five years, been taking bribes from thousands of refugees seeking resettlement in the West. What is astonishing however is that a bribery operation of such a magnitude had taken so long to capture the serious attention of senior UN bureaucrats as to warrant an investigation at this late hour. Corruption within the UN system in Nairobi could hardly have been something difficult to notice considering that it has been a usual topic for gossip and discussion at least in refugee circles in Nairobi.

This latest UN corruption scandal in Nairobi brings to one's mind the cruel and immoral nature of this mammoth organization when it comes to dealing with people in the failed state of Somalia. During the seventies and eighties, the UN was responsible for running a large aid programme in the former Somalia estimated at billions of US dollars in order to sustain the lives of hundreds of thousands of artificial refugees from eastern Ethiopia on Somaliland soil. While this huge assistance was being given, UN officials have known that the influx of people from Ethiopia was actually instigated by dictator Siyad Barre who promised them a better livelihood through UNHCR support. After arming them to the teeth, Barre however used those "refugees" to terrorize the local population or join his government's fight against the SNM [Somali National Movement] rebels. The "refugees" did so in great numbers and of course this has considerably contributed to the prolongation of the war of resistance and the suffering of the civilian population in Somaliland. It has also eventually led to the uprooting or flight of 2.5 million Somalilanders from their homeland to escape Barre's genocide.

Disgustingly enough, the UN chose, then, not to tell the world about how international humanitarian aid was being utilized by a dictator pursuing ethnic cleansing and human rights abuses. Few courageous UN voices disclosing the truth about what was happening could have been determental [as received] to saving thousands of Somalilanders from death.

It is with great irony that the UN is once again found repeating its political cowardice in relation to Somaliland affairs. This time the UN is heinously trying to internationally portray the new Arta faction (made up mainly of the remnants of the defeated Siyad Barre regime) as a government representative of both the peoples of Somaliland and Somalia and hence well positioned to rule all the former Somalia.

We believe that dissatisfaction with the UN performance is not a feeling only confined to peoples living in this part of the world. There is worldwide frustration with the failure of UN leaders to rid the international organization of inefficiency and corruptive practices. We therefore believe that the international community should give an urgent consideration to bringing drastic reforms to the UN body in order to eliminate the political, administrative and financial corruption found so rampant within its system. Recalling the fierce resistance shown by UN oligarchs in the past to previous attempts to reform the organization, it will be necessary to entrust this task to an internationally selected body independent of the UN system. However, if the existing waste within the UN system were to be eliminated, there would be a need for the international community to stop its double standards as to what should be done in order to restore the overall credibility of the organization. In this connection, it is our opinion that the current concept emphasizing the improvement of financial accountability alone, will get nowhere, unless coupled with equally serious measures aimed at cleaning and safeguarding the organization of the politically-based corruption now practised with impunity by many ranking UN officials.

Source: The Republican, Hargeysa, in English 26 Feb 01

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