https://arab.news/m3y44
- Joint statement backs Somalia’s sovereignty, rejects unilateral recognition moves
- Statement warns recognition of secessionist regions risks Africa’s regional stability
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and 11 other countries on Saturday condemned Israel’s appointment of a diplomatic representative to the “so-called Somaliland,” calling it a violation of Somalia’s sovereignty and a threat to regional stability.
The development comes after Israel decided last year to recognize Somaliland, a self-declared region that broke away from Somalia in 1991 but was not diplomatically recognized by any United Nations member state.
Issuing a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Türkiye and other Muslim-majority nations reaffirmed their support for Somalia’s unity and territorial integrity, rejecting what they described as unilateral measures that undermine state sovereignty.
“Such actions constitute a blatant violation of the principles of international law, the United Nation’s Charter, and the Constitutive Act of the African Union, and set a dangerous precedent that risks undermining stability in the Horn of Africa, which reflects negatively on regional peace and security as a whole,” the ministers said in the statement.
Israel appointed its diplomatic representative to Somaliland earlier this week, an act described by the ministers as a “flagrant violation” of Somalia’s sovereignty whose internationally recognized government, they added, was the sole legitimate authority representing its people.
Last year in March, international media reports said Israel and the United States had reached out to East African states, including Somaliland, to take in Palestinians from Gaza.
The outreach came amid Israel’s military campaign in the Palestinian enclave, widely described as a genocide amid mounting criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
“Pakistan reiterates its unequivocal rejection of any steps aimed at the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land under any circumstances,” Islamabad said in a statement in December 2025, reaffirming support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and for an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Somalia has also rejected Israel’s position, while the African Union has consistently opposed unilateral recognition of secessionist regions on the continent.