CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA \Y similarly refers to “founder” nations. Both these constitutions ensure the right of non-indigenous populations to live and work in the regions, but not to hold public office.*® The Federal Member States of Somalia and the status of Somaliland Following independence in 1960, Somalia was made up of eight regions: the two northern regions (the former British protectorate of Somaliland) and six southern regions, each with a governor appointed by the central government,*2 subdivided into districts with elected district councils.5° The military government that took power in 1969 put all local administration under central government direction.*' Since the overthrow of the Siad Barre regime in 1991, Somalia has had no central government in control of all the internationally recognised territory. Security is currently maintained by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), first deployed to Somalia in 2007 to support the Somali government and to assist in the fight against the Islamist insurgency Al-Shabaab. Three decades of war have destroyed infrastructure of all kinds, including infrastructure related to identification. The ongoing efforts to reconstitute the central state as a federation, through the Transitional Federal Charter adopted in 2004 and the Provisional Constitution of 2012, create additional complications in considering the interpretation of Somali citizenship as does the status of the break-away Somaliland that declared in 1991. independence territory of The 2012 Provisional Constitution was supposed to be in effect for four years only but has yet to be replaced.* The 2012 Provisional Constitution establishes a federal structure and gives parliament the power to establish federal member states.°° Since 2012, six federal member states have been recognised by the central government**, Puntland, Southwest each State, of which and has its own Somaliland; constitution: in addition, the Galmudug, Banadir Hirshabelle, Regional Jubaland, Administration is responsible for Mogadishu municipality, the capital city.°> Article 54 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution of Somalia provides that citizenship and immigration are among the matters reserved to the federal government. Nonetheless, several of the constitutions of the federal member states provide for citizenship at the state level. The Puntland constitution, which was 48 Fessha and Beken, ‘Ethnic Federalism and Internal Minorities’. 43 Law No. 14 of 14 June 1962. information in this paragraph, and links to the laws, from http://www.somalilandlaw.com/local_government_law.htm. °° Law No. 19 of 14 August 1963; Law No. 8 of8 February 1967. *t Law No. 52 of8 June 1972; Law No. 21 of3 February 1977. 52 jan Amilcar Schmidt, “The Somali Constitutional Review Process. Taking Stock”, ConstitutionNet, 8 March 2017 https://constitutionnet.org/news/somaliconstitutional-review-process-taking-stock °3 Provisional Constitution of Somalia 2012, articles 48 & 49. >4 Puntland declared itself an autonomous territory in 1998, and was recognised as a federal member state in 2012; it was followed by Jubaland (2013), Southwest (2014), Galmudug (2015), and Hirshabelle (2016). See Michael Keating and Sagal Abshir, The Politics of Security in Somalia, NYU Center on International Cooperation, April 2018, p.5. https://cic.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/politics 55 Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development, of security in somalia 2018 final O.pdf “Federal Member States (FMS)”, https://mop.qov.so/index. php/the- ministry/directorates/planning/federal-member-states-fms/ UNHCR — December 2021 17