Somalia Bars Taiwanese Passport Holders From Entering the Country

[Deeq A.]

The Somali government is battling a decades-long independence movement in Somaliland, a breakaway territory in the country’s north that in recent years has deepened its ties with Taiwan, causing outrage in both Somalia and China.

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 after the collapse of the central government in Mogadishu, but it is not recognized by any government.

In a memo, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, Somali authorities cited compliance with United Nations Resolution 2758, a measure passed in 1971 recognizing the People’s Republic of China as the only global Chinese authority. The resolution does not mention Taiwan’s sovereignty status, but Beijing has long said the resolution gives it full control over the island.

The memo, dated April 22, also called the “unauthorized establishment” of Taiwan’s representative office in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, a “clear violation of Somalia’s sovereignty.”

The decision to ban Taiwanese passport holders came five days before Taiwan’s foreign minister was scheduled to visit the territory, said a senior Somaliland official speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. Last week, Taiwan’s foreign minister, Lin Chia-lung, visited Eswatini, the tiny southern African kingdom that is the only country on the continent that formally recognizes the island.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry called on Somalia to reverse the travel ban “immediately” and urged its nationals not to travel to Somalia or Somaliland until it had.

Somaliland’s foreign minister, Abdirahman Dahir Adam, called the ban “unfortunate” and “alarming.”

“Air-traffic control should not be politicized in any way,” he said in a phone interview with The Times.

China welcomed Somalia’s decision. It was a “legitimate measure” to safeguard the country’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference on Wednesday. Mr. Guo added that Taiwan was an “inalienable” part of China.

Somalia’s civil aviation authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The announcement on Wednesday was not the first time Somalia had imposed similar travel restrictions. Last year, the authorities in Mogadishu refused entry to a plane carrying Ethiopian officials amid tensions over a port deal between Somaliland and Ethiopia.

Beijing continues to expand its influence in Africa and isolate Taiwan in the process. Across the continent, China has leveraged its political and economic power to push governments to sever ties with Taipei.

Somaliland has recently moved to court the Trump administration after years of developing ties with Republican lawmakers and conservative think tanks.

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In 2020, Taiwan opened an office in Hargeisa and appointed an ambassador. Somaliland also sent a representative to Taiwan.
A worker at a Taiwanese-funded agricultural program near Hargeisa. Taiwan has provided economic and military support to Somaliland in recent years.Credit…Joao Silva/The New York Times
Taiwan subsequently backed Somaliland’s push for recognition, trained its military, provided scholarships to students, supplied medical equipment and funded roads. Senior Taiwanese officials have also visited Somaliland, including the deputy foreign minister, who attended the presidential inauguration in December.

“Our histories and our aspirations have tied us hand in hand,” Ambassador Allen C. Lou of Taiwan said in an interview with The Times in Hargeisa last month.

Somalia views the growing relationship between Taiwan and Somaliland as a challenge to its territorial integrity.

This month, Somalia’s prime minister made a landmark visit to Las Anod, a city in a disputed region in southeastern Somaliland. Since 2023, Somaliland has been fighting local armed militias for control of the city, leading to widespread displacement and hundreds of deaths and injuries, according to rights groups, aid workers and doctors.

Amnesty International has accused Somaliland’s security forces of indiscriminately shelling, killing and injuring civilians in Las Anod. The government has denied deliberately harming civilians.

China has provided aid to the disputed region through Somalia, a decision that Taiwanese officials and some experts say is aimed at unsettling Somaliland and weakening its political standing. Beijing has also ratcheted up its messaging against Hargeisa; its ambassador in Mogadishu has met regularly with senior Somali officials.

Experts said that Somalia’s decision to block Taiwanese passport holders signals more trouble ahead. “The ban gives one of the Horn of Africa’s most complicated and unresolved issues, that of Somalia and Somaliland, a global geopolitical element,” said Moustafa Ahmad, a researcher on China and Taiwan relations with countries in the Horn of Africa region.

Amy Chang Chien contributed reporting from Taipei, Taiwan.

Abdi Latif Dahir is the East Africa correspondent for The Times, based in Nairobi, Kenya. He covers a broad range of issues including geopolitics, business, society and arts.

A version of this article appears in print on May 1, 2025, Section A, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: Somalia Bars Entry for Any With Passport From Taiwan. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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