EASO Country of Origin Information Report. Security situation

English

This report was drafted by Country of Origin Information (COI) specialists from the COI units or asylum administrations listed as co‑authors in the Acknowledgements section, together with the European Asylum Support Office (EASO).

This report is an update of the security section of the EASO COI report South and Central Somalia Country overview (August 2014 (2)) and has been extended to other parts of Somalia: Somaliland, Puntland, and the disputed areas between these administrations (Sool, Sanaag, Khatumo).

In June 2015, members of the EASO COI Specialist Network on Somalia provided input for an update of the 2014 Country overview report. Main issues that needed to be updated, according to the feedback received, related to the security situation, not only in South and Central Somalia, but also in the northern areas of Somalia. Although information on human rights, migration and returns were found relevant, it was decided to concentrate this update on security issues only, taking into account the limited number of contributors and the time available for drafting.

During a EASO COI Network seminar on Somalia on 3-4 November 2015, the draft Terms of Reference were finalised and the tasks for drafting and reviewing were divided.

The report presents information collected between August 2014 and 31 December 2015.

To verify that the Terms of Reference and the EASO COI Report Methodology were fully respected, a review was carried out by COI specialists from the countries listed as reviewers in the Acknowledgements section. All comments made by the reviewers were taken into consideration and most of them were implemented in the final draft of this report. An external review was carried out by an expert from the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) in Somalia.

Policy

After the fall of president Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia sank into chaos. Various authorities have taken power since then. Somaliland and Puntland became de facto states independent of Somalia in the 1990's. The general security situation in Somalia is largely determined by a long-term, ongoing, internal armed conflict which has resulted in many Somalis being uprooted or seeking refuge in other countries. In order to assess the need for international protection, the Commissioner General takes into account the fact that there are fundamental differences between the situations in Mogadishu, Central and Southern Somalia on the one hand, and the situation  in Somaliland and Puntland on the other.

Land: 
Somalia

Information about the asylum procedure, tailored to the asylum seeker, can be found at : asyluminbelgium.be.