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SOMALIA

Swedish citizen appointed next prime minister of Somalia

A Swedish-Somali engineer has been named the new prime minister of Somalia after his predecessor was ousted by a no-confidence vote.

Published: 20 September 2020 11:11 CEST
Swedish citizen appointed next prime minister of Somalia
Mohamed Hussein Roble, centre, came to Sweden in 1992 and got his citizenship five years later. Photo: Somali Presidents' Office
Mohamed Hussein Roble came to Sweden in 1992, shortly after the armed coup that thrust the country into its long civil war. He became a Swedish citizen five years later. 
 
In 2000, he gained his masters in Environmental Technology and Sustainable Infrastructure from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. 
 
Most recently, he has been working for the International Labour Organisation in Nairobi, Kenya. 
 
 
Roble's appointment was announced by President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed on Friday, with Abdinur Mohamed, his deputy chief of staff tweeting out a picture of the new prime minister on Friday. 
The appointment still needs to be confirmed by a vote of country's parliament. 
 
In a statement, President Farmajo called on Roble to “immediately form a capable government that will lead the country to elections and make significant efforts to consolidate security gains, rebuild the armed forces, develop infrastructure, expand basic services.” 
 
 
 

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IMMIGRATION

Danish government left information out of UN response over FGM asylum case

In a response to the UN, the government failed to include information regarding its practice in asylum cases involving female genital mutilation (FGM) in Somalia.

Published: 23 August 2018 09:59 CEST
Danish government left information out of UN response over FGM asylum case
An unrelated file photo showing a refugee camp in Somalia. Photo: AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh/Ritzau Scanpix

Although the country’s refugee agency Flygtningenævnet, which is part of the Ministry of Immigration and Integration, wished to submit the information, a section relating to FGM was removed, making the response less controversial, according to a report by newspaper Information.

The decision to remove such information was taken by the ministry in consultation with the Ministry of Justice’s section for state and human rights (Stats- og Menneskeretskontor), according to the report.

Information reports that public documents to which it has gained access show correspondence between the refugee agency and justice ministry confirming the decision.

Denmark was in January criticised by the UN’s Committee on the Rights of the Child (OHCHR) for refusing asylum to a Somali woman and her infant daughter who risked FGM if they were returned to the northeast African country.

The criticism was not anchored to that specific case, however. OHCHR stated that Denmark was obliged by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to not repeat the practice in similar cases.

In its mandatory response to the UN remarks, the justice ministry removed information about its general practice, Information writes.

The official Danish response also failed to explain why the refugee agency will not review the individual case, why it will not change practice in future and why it does not agree with the OHCHR criticism, legal experts told Information.

The Ministry of Justice did not wish to comment on the issue.

In a written comment, the Ministry of Immigration and Integration told Information that the final submitted response to the UN summarised “which steps the specific case had required the (refugee) agency to take”.

READ ALSO: MPs call for explanation over confidential Denmark-Somalia deal after extortion allegation