- Ayan Hussein, a London stylist originally from Somaliland, shows dresses she
sells to local Muslim women at her store in Somaliland’s capital Hargeisa.
Ayan Hussein returned to the region two years ago and started both a clothes store
and a cafe. She is one of many immigrants who have found their way back to the
relative calm of Hargeisa and Somaliland. The northern territory of Somaliland,
which declared independence in 1991, is home to nearly 4mn people and has
emerged as a relatively safe haven of peace as the rest of Somalia remains
plunged in a state of civil war.
Somaliland withdrew from the union of Somalia in 1991 after a lengthy consultation with all its communities who gathered in Buroa, the second capital of Somaliland which like other major cities in the country suffered a destruction of property and loss of human life when the former dictator and his regime used all its fire power to systematically subjugate the population for repelling against his rule. Today’s Somaliland has different worries to the past. It is seeking recognition, consolidation of its democracy, good governance and improvement in the social and economic spheres. Although Somalia still hangs over their heads not because of nostalgia but a desire to have a clean break from their old sister (which they see it as an entity that is obstructing their aspirations and progress to a better future), they consider themselves to be independent and have control over their destiny.
Source: Gulf Times
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