COI-Report-Somalia

46 — EASO Country of Origin Information report — South and Central Somalia — Country overview
their number ( 300 ). Estimations range between six per cent and one third of the population ( 301 ). They are not clans,
but considered as such by majority clans. Some ethnic minorities are affiliated with majority clans (or sub‐clans) and
are sometimes even seen as part of them ( 302 ).
The main ethnic minorities in Somalia include:
• The Bantu (or Jareer) are the largest minority group in Somalia. Traditionally, they are farmers living in the fertile
valleys of Jubba and Shabelle rivers. The Bantu groups have different names such as Gosha, Makane, Kabole,
Shiidle, Reer Shabelle, Mushunguli and Gobaweyne, sometimes depending on the region, like the Mushunguli, who
settle in Lower Jubba region. Part of the Bantu has supposedly settled in this region before the Somali populated
the region (Shiidle, Reer Shabelle, Makane, Kabole); others have been brought as slaves in pre‐colonial times
as well as by the Italian colonialists from regions which nowadays belong to Tanzania, Mozambique or Malawi.
The Gosha are former slaves which fled and hid in the forests. Some of them have been assimilated by majority
clans (mainly Digil‐Mirifle), while others are rather marginalised ( 303 ). As a result, some Bantu groups started to
arm themselves in self‐defence ( 304 ). The language used depends on the Bantu community: many Bantus speak
Somali (Maay‐tiri), but some have retained Bantu languages such as the Mushunguli (Kizigua) and the Gosha or
occasionally Kiswahili ( 305 ).
• Benadiri is a common denomination for several urban minorities living in Southern coastal towns such as Merka,
Baraawe or Mogadishu. They are mercantile communities of mixed origin including Somali, Arab (Omani), Irani,
Indian and Portuguese ( 306 ). Benadiri comprise the following communities: Reer Xamar (living in Xamar Weyne
and Shangaani Districts of Mogadishu) ( 307 ), Shangaani (Shangaani District of Mogadishu), Reer Merka (Merka) and
Barawani (Baraawe). A part of the Barawani considers itself as belonging to the Tunni clan of the Digil‐Mirifle clan
family. The Benadiri speak Somali as well as their own dialects of Somali language, in the case of the Barawani
a dialect of Kiswahili called Chimini or Af‐Baraawe. As merchants, they enjoyed a privileged status before 1991. The
lack of an armed militia left them without protection in the civil war. Most Benadiri therefore fled to Kenya ( 308 ).
• Sheikhal (or Sheikash) is a common name for lineages with an inherited religious status living dispersedly all over
Somalia. The Sheikhal are closely associated with the Hirab clan of the Hawiye clan family, which allowed them
( 300 ) Minority Rights Group International, No redress: Somalia’s forgotten minorities, 31 January 2010 (http://www.minorityrights.org/lid=10370) accessed
10 June 2014, p. 9.
( 301 ) BAMF, Minderheiten in Somalia, July 2010 (https://milo.bamf.de/milop/livelink.exe/fetch/2000/702450/683266/693991/697672/
697677/ 6029534/13604856/13565580/Deutschland___Bundesamt_f%C3%BCr_Migration_und_Fl%C3%BCchtlinge,_Minderheiten_in_Somalia,_Juli_2010.
pdfnodeid=13904432&vernum=-2) accessed 10 June 2014, p. 2; Minority Rights Group International, No redress: Somalia’s forgotten minorities, 31 January
2010 (http://www.minorityrights.org/lid=10370) accessed 10 June 2014, p. 9.
( 302 ) ACCORD, Clans in Somalia. Report on a Lecture by Joakim Gundel, December 2009 (http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/90_1261130976_
accord‐report‐clans‐in‐somalia‐revised‐edition-20091215.pdf) accessed 10 June 2014, p. 17-20.
( 303 ) B A M F, Minderheiten in Somalia, July 2010 (https://milo.bamf.de/milop/livelink.exe/fetch/2000/702450/683266/
693991/ 697672/697677/6029534/13604856/13565580/Deutschland___Bundesamt_f%C3%BCr_Migration_und_Fl%C3%BCchtlinge,_Minderheiten_in_
Somalia,_Juli_2010.pdfnodeid=13904432&vernum=-2) accessed 10 June 2014, p. 4-6; ACCORD, Clans in Somalia. Report on a Lecture by Joakim Gundel,
December 2009 (http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/90_1261130976_accord‐report‐clans‐in‐somalia‐revised‐edition-20091215.pdf) accessed 10 June 2014,
p. 16; Minority Rights Group International, No redress: Somalia’s forgotten minorities, 31 January 2010 (http://www.minorityrights.org/lid=10370) accessed
10 June 2014, p. 9-10; Rinehard, B., Clan Structure in Somalia, Civil‐Military Fusion Centre, August 2011 (https://www.cimicweb.org/cmo/Piracy/Documents/
CFC%20Anti‐Piracy%20Thematic%20Reports/CFC_Anti‐Piracy_Report_Clans%20in%20Somalia_Aug_2011.pdf) accessed 10 June 2014; Luling, V., ‘The
Other Somali: Minority Groups in Traditional Somali Society’, Proceedings of the Second International Congress of Somali Studies: University of Hamburg,
August 1-6, 1983 Vol. IV., Labahn, L. (ed.), Buske, 1984; Höhne, M. V., ‘Continuities and changes regarding minorities in Somalia’, Ethnic and Racial Studies,
Routledge, 2014, p. 3-5; DIS (Danish Immigration Service), Report on Minority Groups in Somalia, 17-24 September 2000 (http://www.unhcr.org/cgi‐bin/
texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain/opendocpdf.pdfdocid=3ae6a5fa0) accessed 10 June 2014, p. 29-38.
( 304 ) ACCORD, Clans in Somalia. Report on a Lecture by Joakim Gundel, December 2009 (http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/90_1261130976_
accord‐report‐clans‐in‐somalia‐revised‐edition-20091215.pdf) accessed 10 June 2014, p. 16.
( 305 ) Minority Rights Group International, No redress: Somalia’s forgotten minorities, 31 January 2010 (http://www.minorityrights.org/lid=10370) accessed
10 June 2014, p. 16; ACCORD, Clans in Somalia. Report on a Lecture by Joakim Gundel, December 2009 (http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/90_1261130976_
accord‐report‐clans‐in‐somalia‐revised‐edition-20091215.pdf) accessed 10 June 2014, p. 16; Höhne, M. V., ‘Continuities and changes regarding minorities in
Somalia’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Routledge, 2014, p. 5; DIS, Report on Minority Groups in Somalia, 17-24 September 2000 (http://www.unhcr.org/cgi‐bin/
texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain/opendocpdf.pdfdocid=3ae6a5fa0) accessed 10 June 2014, p. 29-38.
( 306 ) B A MF, Minderheiten in Somalia, July 2010 (https://milo.bamf.de/milop/livelink.exe/fetch/2000/702450/683266/693991/
697672/697677/ 6029534/13604856/13565580/Deutschland___Bundesamt_f%C3%BCr_Migration_und_Fl%C3%BCchtlinge,_Minderheiten_in_Somalia,_
Juli_2010.pdfnodeid=13904432&vernum=-2) accessed 10 June 2014, p. 7-12; ACCORD, Clans in Somalia. Report on a Lecture by Joakim Gundel, December
2009 (http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/90_1261130976_accord‐report‐clans‐in‐somalia‐revised‐edition-20091215.pdf) accessed 10 June 2014, p. 17;
Minority Rights Group International, No redress: Somalia’s forgotten minorities, 31 January 2010 (http://www.minorityrights.org/lid=10370) accessed
10 June 2014, p. 8, 11.
( 307 ) Landinfo, Response Somalia: Reer Hamar, 17 December 2009 (http://landinfo.no/asset/1091/1/1091_1.pdf) accessed 10 June 2014.
( 308 ) Minority Rights Group International, No redress: Somalia’s forgotten minorities, 31 January 2010 (http://www.minorityrights.
org/lid=10370) accessed 10 June 2014, p. 11-12; BAMF, Minderheiten in Somalia, July 2010 (https://milo.bamf.de/milop/livelink.exe/fet
ch/2000/702450/683266/693991/697672/697677/6029534/13604856/13565580/Deutschland___Bundesamt_f%C3%BCr_Migration_und_
Fl%C3%BCchtlinge,_Minderheiten_in_Somalia,_Juli_2010.pdfnodeid=13904432&vernum=-2) accessed 10 June 2014, p. 7-12; DIS, Report on Minority Groups
in Somalia, 17-24 September 2000 (http://www.unhcr.org/cgi‐bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain/opendocpdf.pdfdocid=3ae6a5fa0) accessed 10 June 2014,
p. 38-47.