MOGADISHU (SD) – Puntland authorities have temporarily resettled at least seven hundred people who were evicted by Somaliland government from Las’anod town of Sool region.
In a statement, Interior Minister Mohamed Dhaban’ad said 758 people among them men women and children had received shelter, food and medical supplies.
The evictees left their homes in Las-Anod Saturday after they were rounded up in night raids and kicked out by the Somaliland administration over accusations of insecurity in the area.
The Somaliland administration said it was a deportation operation, and that those rounded up in lorries on Saturday were not Somaliland nationals.
Sool Regional Police Commander, Ahmed Abdillahi Abdi, said that Somaliland would not give Somali’s any special treatment as any other foreign group.
“People from Somalia who are being deported are in the same situation as people deported from Saudi Arabia.”
The Somaliland government said that the forced repatriation of Somali nationals is necessary to achieve its security and economic objectives.
The move was condemned by Somali government saying it was deeply saddened by the deportation of Somalis in Las Anod and called on the people of Las Anod to preserve their Somali identity.
Somali Minister of Information Osman Abukar Dubbe said that the Somaliland authorities have violated cultural traditions.
“The ongoing deportation of Somalis from Las Anod saddens me. The people of Las Anod have always had a tradition of hospitality and Somaliness. I hope they will preserve that good tradition, and the Somali people around them can feel safe,” said Dubbe.
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