WHEN SOMALIA DEMANDED PORTUGAL ARMS EMBARGO

1st July marks Somalia’s Independence Day. It was on this day, 64 years ago, that Italian Somaliland and British Somaliland were unified to form the Republic of Somalia.

Like many other African nations that became independent in the early ‘60s, Somalia not only embarked on building its own nation, but also got involved in the Pan-African effort to rid the entire African continent of all settler-colonial regimes.

It used its presence on international bodies such as the United Nations to denounce these regimes. One good example is when, in 1972, Somalia asked the UN Security Council to impose a total arms embargo on Portugal - until Lisbon granted independence to the African territories it had colonised, including the African nations of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe.

Watching Somalia’s envoy make the case, we’re reminded of the importance of internationalism as one of the tools used in the struggle for liberation. A sense of shared struggle has rallied Africans around anti-imperialism throughout the decades. It’s a battle that’s still as important today as was five decades ago.

Happy Independence Day to our Somali brothers and sisters, both at home and in the diaspora!