The Society for Threatened Peoples STP (Gesellschaft for bedrohte Völker GfbV) has accused the German Foreign Office with neglecting the dramatic situation in Somalia. "It is a debacle for German peace politics in Africa if former members of the armed forces can for months be recruited in Germany for a warlord in Somalia without the Foreign Office learning of this”, criticised the STP Africa consultant, Ulrich Delius, on Tuesday in Göttingen. "But it is also a declaration of bankruptcy for the German security services that this infringement of the UN sanctions only became known through the research of the media.”

At Whitsun the NDR reported that the "Asgaard German Security Group” from Münster had concluded an agreement with the Somali opposition politician Galadid Abdinur Ahmad Darman on the training of fighters by former members of the German armed forces. The Foreign Office promptly emphasised that it had known nothing of the controversial contract. Germany belongs to the International Contact Group on Somalia and the Contact Group on Piracy, the two leading international organs concerned with the situation in the country which is at war. Germany also finances the training of police and soldiers for the provisional Somali government which is being fought against by the opposition politician.

"The fact that Darman's obscure activities in Germany were not noticed by the authorities, although they have been announced in press releases since 16th December 2009 does not say much for Germany's work in Somalia”, said Delius. Darman even sent out invitations together with his German partner Asgaard to a congress on security in Somalia on 27th January 2020 in Haan near Düsseldorf.

"In the light of the catastrophic situation of the people Germany it is imperative that Germany does more for peace in Somalia”, demanded Delius. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) described Somalia last week as the worst humanitarian catastrophe. More than 40 percent of the population need emergency aid and there are 1.4 million displaced persons in the country itself, while half a million have fled abroad. Only 20 percent of the aid needed has so far been promised by the international community. 20 civilians died in Mogadishu when their areas of the city were taken under fire. Both the transitional government and the radical Islamist rebels commit war crimes by arbitrarily opening fire on heavily populated areas.

Ulrich Delius can be reached at asien@gfbv.de