Legtimacy of the Memorendum of Understanding Between Ethiopia and Somaliland; Special Emphasis on the Legality of Ethiopia's Recognition of the State of Somaliland
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Date
2024-06-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
During the colonial era Somaliland has been under the rule of Britain. In June 1960 British
colonizers left Somaliland and the latter proclaimed its independence. After the withdrawal of
the colonial forces the state of Somaliland gained recognition of more than 35 countries
including USA. But this sovereignty lasted only for five days until Somaliland consensually
form a union with Italian Somalia to form the republic of Somalia. The union comes to an end
in 1991 after the collapse of an oppressive regime of said bare who ruled the country for over
20 years. With the collapse of the said bare regime the republic of Somalia also collapsed of
which the current state of Somaliland emerged through a unilateral declaration of
independence. Although from that time on, Somaliland continued as a de facto state, no
country dared to recognize it as an independent state and the state of Somalia even claims
that Somaliland is still part of Somalia. Against this background, the government of Ethiopia
signed a memorandum of understanding in 2024 with the state of Somaliland by which
Ethiopia committed to recognize Somaliland and the latter committed to allow its coastline to
Ethiopia. Immediately after the conclusion of this memorandum of understanding, the
government of the state of Somalia issued a press release stating that the MOU violates the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia. The republic of
Somalia believes that the unilateral declaration of independence by Somaliland is illegal and
Somaliland is still an integral part of the republic. This research has addressed if Ethiopia’s
recognition of the state of Somaliland is indeed in line with the principle of international law
such as respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, uti possidetis and
nonintervention in the internal affairs of state and I argue that it is
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Keywords
Recognition, Uti possidetis, Territorial integrity, Sovereignty, Statehood