The biggest challenge which Somaliland faces in the international foreign affairs arena is the task of securing recognition as a sovereign state. Somaliland has an indisputable legal case to be recognized. It fulfils all the requirements of statehood in international law including:
- A permanent population
- A defined territory
- A stable system of Government
- Capacity to enter into relations with Sovereign States
Somaliland comprises the territory, boundaries and people of the former British Somaliland Protectorate defined and delimited by the provisions of the following international treaties:
- The Anglo-French Treaty of 1888
- The Anglo-Italian Protocol of 1894
- The Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1897
Somaliland’s declaration of independence is predicated upon these well-defined boundaries at independence, which is consistent with the Constitutive Act of the African Union (Article 4.b.), which affirms the Union’s “respect of borders existing upon achievement of independence. Somaliland’s borders upon achievement of independence were those of the British Somaliland Protectorate, not the Somali Democratic Republic. Somaliland’s independent status therefore represents the dissolution of a voluntary union between sovereign states, not an act of secession.
