COI-Report-Somalia

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110 — EASO Country of Origin Information report — South and Central Somalia — Country overview • The daughter asks her father for permission to marry a certain man or boy • Run‐away marriage ( 1144 ) Arranged marriages are the most common form of marriage. They require the consent of both partners and their parents or caretakers. However, refusing a marriage arranged by her father is very unusual for a young girl because of the strong social pressure ( 1145 ). If the daughter has chosen a lover herself, and her father does not give his permission to marry the man of her choice, the couple can decide to elope together. The run‐away (secret) marriage, without informing the parents, is becoming more common in Somalia, especially in areas where Al‐Shabaab (which opposes the practice) is not present. A distance of 90 to 100 km between the residence of the girls’ father and the place of marriage ( 1146 ) is required for the union to be valid. The couple cannot live together before informing their families. Usually, this is done when the woman has become pregnant ( 1147 ). 4.4.1.3 Early marriages The provisional federal constitution does not specify a minimum age for marriage, but states ‘no marriage shall be legal without the free consent of both the man and the woman, or if either party has not reached the age of maturity. (...) A child is a person under the age of 18.’ ( 1148 ) However, early marriages are still common. In rural areas, it is not unusual that children are married as early as thirteen ( 1149 ). According to the US Department of State, parents in rural areas often compel their daughters as young as 12 to marry ( 1150 ). In towns, children are commonly married when they turn fifteen ( 1151 ). In 2013, 45 per cent of women between the ages of 20 and 24 were married by age 18, and 8 % were married by age 15. In Al‐Shabaab areas, girls as young as 12 have been forcibly married to Al‐Shabaab leaders and warriors ( 1152 ). 4.4.1.4 Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) According to the 2012 Provisional Federal Constitution: ‘Female circumcision is a cruel and degrading customary practice, and is tantamount to torture. The circumcision of girls is prohibited.’ ( 1153 ) However, the FGS does not enforce the law. The practice is widespread throughout Somalia. UNICEF data (2013) indicate that 98 % of women and girls have undergone FGM/C, the majority of whom (63 %) were subjected to infibulation ( 1154 ), the most severe and most invasive form of FGM/C. In more than 80 % of cases, FGM/C is performed on girls between five and nine years old; in about 10 % between 9 and 14; and in about 7 % between 0 and 4 years old ( 1155 ). ( 1144 ) Landinfo/Udlændingsstyrelsen, Update on security and protection issues in Mogadishu and South‐Central Somalia, March 2014 (http://landinfo.no/ asset/2837/1/2837_1.pdf) accessed 26 May 2014, p. 71. ( 1145 ) Landinfo, Somalia: Al‐Shabaab and forced marriage, 6 July 2012 (http://www.landinfo.no/asset/2156) accessed 30 May 2014. ( 1146 ) For hundreds of Mogadishu eloping couples a year, Wanlaweyn and Merka are common marriage destinations. AP, As Islamic radicals retreat, young Somalis elope, 17 April 2013 (http://news.yahoo.com/islamic‐radicals‐retreat‐young‐somalis‐elope-113958149.html) accessed 30 May 2014. ( 1147 ) Landinfo/Udlændingsstyrelsen, Update on security and protection issues in Mogadishu and South‐Central Somalia, March 2014 (http://landinfo.no/ asset/2837/1/2837_1.pdf) accessed 26 May 2014, p. 72-73. ( 1148 ) Federal Republic of Somalia, Provisional Constitution, adopted on 1 August 2012 (http://unpos.unmissions.org/LinkClick.aspxfileticket=RkJTOSpoMME=) accessed 29 May 2014. ( 1149 ) Lifos, Kvinnor och barn i Somalia. Rapport från utredningsresa till Nairobi, Kenya och Mogadishu, Hargeisa och Bosaaso i Somalia i juni 2012, 5 June 2013 (http://lifos.migrationsverket.se/dokumentdocumentSummaryId=30432) accessed 22 June 2014, p. 6. ( 1150 ) US Department of State, Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2013 - Somalia, 27 February 2014 (http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/ humanrightsreport/index.htmyear=2013&dlid=220158) accessed 27 May 2014. ( 1151 ) Lifos, Kvinnor och barn i Somalia. Rapport från utredningsresa till Nairobi, Kenya och Mogadishu, Hargeisa och Bosaaso i Somalia i juni 2012, 5 June 2013 (http://lifos.migrationsverket.se/dokumentdocumentSummaryId=30432) accessed 22 June 2014, p. 6. ( 1152 ) NOAS, Persecution and protection in Somalia, A fact‐finding report by NOAS, April 2014 (http://www.noas.no/wp‐content/uploads/2014/04/Somalia_web. pdf) accessed 2 June 2014, p. 44; HRW, No place for children, Child Recruitment, Forced Marriage, and Attacks on Schools in Somalia, February 2012 (http:// www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/somalia0212ForUpload_0.pdf) accessed 30 May 2014, p. 60-66. ( 1153 ) Federal Republic of Somalia, Provisional Constitution, adopted on 1 August 2012 (http://unpos.unmissions.org/LinkClick.aspxfileticket=RkJTOSpoMME=) accessed 30 May 2014, Art. 15 (4). ( 1154 ) Partial or complete removal of all external sexual organs and almost complete closure of the vaginal opening. ( 1155 ) UNICEF/Child Info, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change, July 2013 (http://www.childinfo.org/ files/FGMC_Low_Sept2013.pdf) accessed 30 May 2014, p. 58.
EASO Country of Origin Information report — South and Central Somalia — Country overview — 111 According to interlocutors of the Swedish fact‐finding mission (Lifos) in October 2013, ‘Al Shabaab has banned FGM ( 1156 ) and, according to consulted sources, FGM does not occur in the areas controlled by Al Shabaab. (…) Girls in areas not controlled by Al Shabaab are still subjected to FGM.’ Lifos adds that, although prevalence is slightly decreasing, most girls all over Somalia still undergo FGM ( 1157 ). Women who have not undergone FGM/C are stigmatised in Somali society and have less chance to marry. There are indications that some families abandon infibulation and opt for a lighter form of FGM/C (commonly called sunna), particularly in urban areas, and that FGM/C is slightly less common among girls between the age of 15 and 19 than among women between 45 and 49 years old ( 1158 ). 4.4.2 Children Fifteen per cent of children born in Somalia die before their first birthday ( 1159 ). Children are the most affected by the humanitarian crisis, and were especially affected during the famine that hit the country between 2010 and 2012 ( 1160 ). Acute malnutrition has affected 203 000 Somali children in total, while in the south at least 50 000 children face increased risk of death, due to malnutrition ( 1161 ). According to the Provisional Constitution, the age of maturity is reached at 18 ( 1162 ). However, in practice, children from 15 years on are considered mature, for example with regard to marriage (see paragraph 4.4.1.3) ( 1163 ). On average children receive less than 2.5 years of formal schooling. Girls’ school enrolment rate is much lower than that of boys, and girls are more often illiterate (see paragraph 1.6) ( 1164 ). Child labour is also widespread (50 %). Children are often found in poorly paid jobs, in manual and domestic labour, as in the case of girls working as domestic servants, and boys working as shoe shiners, car washers, or in repair shops ( 1165 ). Children’s rights are often violated in Somalia, especially in the conflict‐ridden areas. Children have been mutilated, killed, raped, and recruited as soldiers by armed groups ( 1166 ). Children are often the main victims of indiscriminate shooting and fighting. The number of abandoned, orphaned, separated and displaced children living in the streets has increased enormously since 2008. In 2012, 4 660 cases of violations against children by armed forces and armed groups were documented, of which 2 051 concerned recruitment and use of children in the armed conflict (2 008 boys and 43 girls). Al‐Shabaab was responsible for 1 789 cases of child recruitment in 2012, while the SNAF committed 179 such violations ( 1167 ). Between November 2013 and April 2014, 447 incidents of grave violations (mostly abductions and recruitment) affecting 436 ( 1156 ) This is confirmed by UNICEF in: AP, Female Genital Mutilation Down, 16 April 2013 (http://bigstory.ap.org/article/somalia‐female‐genital‐mutilation‐down) accessed 30 May 2014. ( 1157 ) Lifos, Kvinnor i Somalia. Rapport från utredningsresa till Nairobi, Kenya i oktober 2013, revised 24 January 2014 (http://lifos.migrationsverket.se/dokumen tdocumentSummaryId=31539) accessed 30 May 2014. ( 1158 ) IPS, Somalia’s ‘Cultural Shift’ Means Less‐Severe Form of FGM, 20 June 2013 (http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/06/somalias‐cultural‐shift‐means‐less‐ severeform‐of‐fgm/) accessed 30 May 2014; UNICEF/Child Info, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change, July 2013 (http://www.childinfo.org/files/FGMC_Low_Sept2013.pdf) accessed 30 May 2014, p. 190. Recent research by Foundation HIRDA shows the same trend towards the lighter form of Sunna, used by a majority of 3000 interviewed men and women. HIRDA, Vrouwenbesnijdenis in Somalië. Actueel inzicht in de praktijk en analyse van het effect van projecten gericht op het tegengaan van besnijdenis, Amsterdam, 2014, in press. ( 1159 ) Save the Children, State of the World’s Mothers Report 2014 - Executive Summary (http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0- df91d2eba74a%7D/SOWM_2014%20_EXEC_SUMMARY.PDF) accessed 29 May 2014, p 79. ( 1160 ) HRW, No place for children, Child Recruitment, Forced Marriage, and Attacks on Schools in Somalia, February 2012 (http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/ reports/somalia0212ForUpload_0.pdf) accessed 30 May 2014. ( 1161 ) UN Security Council, Report of the Secretary‐General on Somalia (S/2014/140), 3 March 2014 (http://www.refworld.org/docid/531ef31f4.html) accessed 19 May 2014. ( 1162 ) Federal Republic of Somalia, Provisional Constitution, adopted on 1 August 2012 (http://unpos.unmissions.org/LinkClick.aspxfileticket=RkJTOSpoMME=) accessed 30 May 2014. ( 1163 ) Lifos, Kvinnor och barn i Somalia. Rapport från utredningsresa till Nairobi, Kenya och Mogadishu, Hargeisa och Bosaaso i Somalia i juni 2012, 5 June 2013 (http://lifos.migrationsverket.se/dokumentdocumentSummaryId=30432) accessed 22 June 2014, p. 6. ( 1164 ) Save the Children, State of the World’s Mothers Report 2014 - Executive Summary (http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0- df91d2eba74a%7D/SOWM_2014%20_EXEC_SUMMARY.PDF) accessed 29 May 2014, p 79. ( 1165 ) IPS, No Silver Lining for Somalia’s Child Labourers, 17 May 2014 (http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/05/silver‐lining‐somalias‐child‐labourers/utm_ source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=silver‐lining‐somalias‐child‐labourers) accessed 31 May 2014. ( 1166 ) US Department of State, Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2013 - Somalia, 27 February 2014 (http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/ humanrightsreport/index.htmyear=2013&dlid=220158) accessed 27 May 2014. ( 1167 ) UN Security Council, Children and armed conflict - Report of the Secretary‐General (A/67/845–S/2013/245), 15 May 2013 (http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb. int/files/resources/Children%20and%20armed%20conflict.pdf) accessed 1 June 2014.
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European Asylum Support Office EASO
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Europe Direct is a service to help
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Contents Acknowledgements 3 Disclai
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3.2.2.1 Somali National Armed Force
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COI-Report-Somalia

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