In 1991, Somaliland declared independence from Somalia after decades of brutal repression under Somalia’s dictatorship. Siad Barre’s forces bombed Hargeisa and other cities, killed tens of thousands of civilians during a campaign described by a UN-commissioned investigator as genocide against the Isaaq, and drove hundreds of thousands into exile.
That same year, Ilhan Omar fled Somalia’s civil war as a child. She eventually found refuge in America. Somaliland’s people rebuilt their country and established their own government.
Thirty-five years later, Somaliland has built a functioning democratic government, its own military and police forces, a constitution, its own currency, and an economy supported by trade and investment. Its citizens vote in multiparty elections and choose their own leaders.
Somalia, meanwhile, remains plagued by Al-Shabaab terrorism, political instability, corruption, and widespread poverty. Its government struggles to maintain security and control throughout the country, and its citizens have not directly elected their national leaders in decades.
Somaliland’s president recently told Breitbart that Trump is a “great man” who “could make more history by recognizing a new country called Somaliland,” offering cooperation on terrorism, piracy, and maritime security. Trump later called Somaliland “a totally different country” from Somalia. Israel already recognized its independence.
Meanwhile, Somali-born Rep. Ilhan Omar opposes Somaliland’s independence and backs Somalia’s claim that it still belongs to Somalia. In a 2024 speech, she defended Somalia’s territorial integrity, opposed a deal treating Somaliland as independent, and declared that as long as she is in Congress, “no one will take Somalia’s sea.”
Trump has an opportunity to recognize the government Somalilanders built after surviving dictatorship and repression, while strengthening America’s strategic position in East Africa.
And then there’s Omar. She fled Somalia’s collapse, found freedom in America, and rose to power in Congress. Yet she continues to side with Somalia against millions of people who broke away from that same country, built a functioning government, and have governed themselves for 35 years.
She escaped Somalia and built a better life in America, yet she uses her seat in Congress to defend Somalia’s claim over Somaliland and oppose its independence. That’s not solidarity. That’s hypocrisy.