From: sls2c@cc.usu.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: Re: Somalia News Update, September 30
Date: 7 Oct 92 12:52:04 MDT
Organization: Utah State University

In article <antbh.718055724@strix>, antbh@strix.udac.uu.se (Bernhard Helander) writes:
> 
> ____________________________________________________
> 
>         S O M A L I A  N E W S  U P D A T E
> ____________________________________________________
> 
>                 September 30, 1992
> ____________________________________________________
> 
> Somalia News Update is published irregularly via
> electronic mail. Queries: E-mail antbh@strix.udac.uu.se
> or fax +46-18-151160. All material is free to quote as
> long as the source is stated.
> ____________________________________________________
> 
> 
>               WHO IS STARVING IN SOMALIA?
>                  By Bernhard Helander
> 
> Famine is not an evenly spread evil that affects equally 
> all parts of the Somali people. Worst off are members of 
> the Rahanweyn and Digil clan-families (clusters of clans) 
> in the so-called inter-river area of Somalia. In 
> addition, members of the riverine communities along the 
> Jubba river are also among the most badly affected. 
> 
> The reasons for this relate both to the particular 
> standing of these groups in the Somali society, the way 
> in which these clans are traditionally organized, and the 
> losses of the means of subsistence that they have 
> suffered during the course of the civil war.
> 
> Rahanweyn and Digil speak a dialect of Somali language 
> known as Af-maay. This dialect is largely 
> uncomprehensible for most other Somalis and sounds 
> "funny" to them. Many Somalis are ignorant about the 
> various clans composing the Digil and Rahanweyn and often 
> refer to them derogatory as Eeyle - "the ones with dogs". 
> Adding to the prejudice, a common ancestor for many 
> Rahanweyn and Digil is called Sab. That term to northern 
> Somalis denote a particular category of artisans, held to 
> be of lowly origins.
> 
> Unlike most other Somali clans the Rahanweyn clans have 
> always allowed strangers to settle among them, and, over 
> time to become incorporated as clan members. In some 
> clans the number of such incorporated members is greater 
> than that of people born within the clans The effect is 
> that the cooperative strength within Rahanweyn clans is 
> not as strong as among other Somali groups. In defence, 
> for instance, it has always been difficult for Rahanweyn 
> clans to mobilize concertedly against armed intrusion, 
> because many members of the local clans originally came 
> from, and still recognize ties with, the invaders. The 
> clans in the inter-river area are also much smaller than 
> elsewhere in Somalia. Also, since many vital political 
> issues traditionally have been handled by village rather 
> than clan-institutions, the clans in the area are simply 
> not equipped to deal with a major intrusion into their 
> area.
> 
> During the reign of Siyaad Barre, state penetration into 
> the rural areas were not as effective anywhere as it was 
> in the inter-river area. The government had security 
> agents and militia palced in every major village. One of 
> the effects of this was that, unlike many other parts of 
> the country, Rahanweyn and Digil clans were disarmed. All 
> forms of resistance were thus easily curbed. In fact 
> Siyaad govermnet considered itself in such good control 
> of the country that it placed its most vital prison - the
> "Labaatan Jirow" - on Rahanweyn ground.
> 
> During the last year of Siyad Barre, small groups of ex-
> soldiers started to raid transports along the Bur Hakaba-
> Baydhabo road. They called themselves unu hadda koyn, "we 
> came now". The choice of name reflects an awareness of 
> the many other armed movements that at the time were 
> waging war against Siyad's regime.
> 
> The subsistence economy of the inter-river area is 
> different than that of many other parts of Somalia. 
> Technically the Rahanweyn and Digil are described as 
> agro-pastoralists, meaning that they combine live stock 
> breading with sedentary agriculture. This form of 
> subsistence is viable in times of peace. However, there 
> are features in such an economy that makes it 
> particularly vulnerable to war conditions. Primarily this 
> is the fact that most people will have a pronounced 
> dependency on immobile resources like farms and 
> granaries. Another aspect adding to the vulnerability is 
> that mobile resources, i.e. livestock, are much less than 
> among purely pastoral groups.
> 
> Since the overthrow of Siyad Barre, the Rahanweyn and 
> Digil have suffered enormously. Wells have been poisoned, 
> livestock looted and granaries emptied by armies 
> traversing their territory. One report stated that in the 
> spring of this year it was impossible to carry out 
> agricultural work in the vicinity of Baydhabo beacause of 
> the shooting. The local clans have had little or nothing 
> to put up against these invaders who really see them as 
> second class Somalis. The organisation that Rahanweyn and 
> Digil formed, the Somali Democratic Movement, SDM, has 
> remained largely unarmed throughout the conflict and they 
> have been at the mercy of more powerful groups, such as 
> the SNF, USC and SPM. In August this year, the latter two 
> organisations formed an alliance in which they reported 
> that SDM was also included. A few days later the radio 
> station of self-appointed president and chief-antagonist 
> of USC, Ali Mahdi, proclaimed that the SDM were not 
> included in the treaty between the other two 
> organisations. Such conflicting claims to have the 
> solidarity of the SDM, simply shows that they are without 
> power and arms.  
> 
> Many of the refugee camps surrounding Mogadishu have a 
> majority of Rahanweyn and Digil inhabitants. Most of 
> these have fled to Mogadishu away from their looted 
> villages. Unrelated to the groups that control the 
> airports and the ports, it is not difficult to understand 
> why it is precisely these people that are the last ones 
> to be fed when food is scarce.
> 
> It is important to remember that the problem in Somalia 
> is not a famine that has developed into a civil war, but 
> precisely the other way around. And it is the loosers of 
> that war that we now see on television.
> 
> Bernhard Helander
> 
> -- 
> *****************************************************************************
> *                                  *                                        *
> * Bernhard Helander                * Telephone: +46-18-182289 (office)      *
> * Dept of Cultural Anthropology    *            +46-18-303448 (home)        *
> * University of Uppsala            *                                        *
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> * Sweden                           * E-mail: Bernhard.Helander@antro.uu.se  *
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