Like the swinging of a pendulum, the mood between Ethiopia and Somaliland appears to be unraveling from one of warmth to feelings of retaliation from the latter.
As tension with neighbouring Somalia gradually dissipates, Ethiopia’s relations with the breakaway Somaliland are entering dire straits thanks to a sudden U-turn on a bungled deal over the Red Sea.
The deal was meant to guarantee the landlocked country trade access to the Red Sea while Somaliland’s reward would have been a recognition of its sovereignty by Ethiopia.
This prospect was frowned upon by the authorities in Mogadishu and had set Ethiopia on a diplomatic collision course with its neighbour which still regards Somaliland as its territory.
Somaliland a 176,120 square kilometres of territory with some 6.2 million people has all the trappings of an independent country since 1991 and has its own currency to boot.
But this has come with stiff opposition from the federal government in Mogadishu which enjoys the backing of the international community.
In recent weeks Ethiopia-Somalia relations have hit the road to recovery.
News of the deportations comes as Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed paid a visit to Somalia on Thursday.
Local media in Mogadishu reported his visit as a way of reinforcing bilateral ties on security cooperation, economic collaboration, and strengthening diplomatic ties which were estranged so badly last year that it rendered precarious Ethiopia’s role as a troop contributing country to a new peacekeeping mission in Somalia.
It is Somaliland’s turn to register its displeasure over Ethiopia going tepid on the January 2024 memorandum of understanding which would have amounted to a diplomatic coup for Hargeisa which after more than thirty years is still hungry for global recognition as a sovereign republic.
Without warning Somaliland has deported hundreds of Ethiopian migrants in what seems like a retaliatory over Mogadishu’s supposed U-turn toward it.
Some of the deported Ethiopian migrants told APA Thursday that Somaliland police had launched a campaign to send them packing out of the territory two weeks ago shortly after Addis Ababa and Mogadishu agreed to end their bitter feud.
According to the Ethiopian migrants, Somaliland police on vehicles were seen combing markets in Hargeisa for those who were living in the territory illegally.
While many Ethiopians reside in Somaliland with refugee cards, visas, or work permits, a significant number enter the region unlawfully each year.
Somaliland authorities have not officially commented on the reasons for the sudden deportations but theories abound to the effect that they were meant as a statement directed at the authorities in Addis Ababa.
Many of the migrants belong to Ethiopia’s Oromo ethnic group, engaged in low-income jobs such as car-washing, while others resort to begging on the streets.
Ethiopia has not responded officially to Somaliland’s new wave of deportation.
MG/as/APA