Somalia: Information on whether a Bajuni resident of Kismayo, who had never resided in Mogadishu, would have been issued a tesera and birth certificate in Mogadishu in 1990, and whether there was a special procedure for the Bajuni to receive identity documents
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1996 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SOM23159.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Somalia: Information on whether a Bajuni resident of Kismayo, who had never resided in Mogadishu, would have been issued a tesera and birth certificate in Mogadishu in 1990, and whether there was a special procedure for the Bajuni to receive identity documents, 1 February 1996, SOM23159.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aaec4b.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Specific information on the above-mentioned subjects is limited among the sources consulted by the DIRB.
In a telephone interview on 21 February 1996, a professor of anthropology specializing in Somalia at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, stated that people from rural areas rarely went to Mogadishu for anything. The professor thought it unlikely that rural people like the Bajuni, who are often illiterate, could afford the prohibitive cost of travel to Mogadishu as well as the expense of procuring documents (ibid.).
A professor of history specializing in Somalia at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, stated in a telephone interview on 22 February 1996 that it was highly unlikely that the Bajuni would travel to Mogadishu for identity documents. The professor stated he would be "very surprised" if a Bajuni had a tesera and birth certificate from Mogadishu (ibid.). The professor explained that the Bajuni are a trans-national people found along the Indian Ocean coast south of Kismayo in Somalia and into Kenya (ibid.). They had very little need for government services (ibid.). The professor added that birth certificates were usually given out for hospital births in urban areas, but that there was no systematic effort to register people in Somalia (ibid.)
Neither professor knew whether the Bajuni had to follow special procedures for obtaining identity documents (ibid.; 21 Feb 1995).
Additional and/or corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Professor of anthropology specializing in Somalia, Colby College, Waterville, Me. 21 February 1996. Telephone interview.
Professor of history specializing in Somalia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. 22 February 1996. Telephone interview.
Additional Sources Consulted
Background Paper on Somali Refugees and Asylum Seekers. 1994.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) daily reports. 1991-1995.
The Price of Peace: Somalia and the United Nations 1991-1994.
Somalia Faces the Future: Human Rights in a Fragmented Society. 1995.
USAID Situation Reports. 1995.
Victims and Vulnerable Groups in Southern Somalia. 1995
Vulnerable Minorities in Somalia and Somaliland. 1995.
Oral sources.