Omar Calls For Return Of Somali Territories

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) came under considerable criticism after giving a speech in which she called for the expansion of her birth country of Somalia. The speech, given in the Somali language in the United States, included the representative expressing herself as a Somali and not an American.

Omar told a group of Somali-Americans that she would try to force a breakaway region of the country back into Somalia. The territory of Somaliland declared its independence from the rest of the country and operates a relatively stable somewhat democratic system.

“As Somalis, one day we will go after our missing territories,” she said.

“While I am in Congress, no one will take Somalia’s sea,” she told the crowd. “The United States will not back others to rob us. So, do not lose sleep over that.”

Somaliland recently signed a deal with neighboring Ethiopia to give the country access to the Indian Ocean.

Omar said in the speech that Somalia was her first priority.

The representative’s comments come as a stark contrast compared to her approach to American policy. While presenting herself as a member of the socialist ‘Squad’ in the House of Representatives, Omar appears to endorse outright colonialism in her views of her birth country.

The Ilhan Omar clip where she is a fanatical ethnonationalist imperialist in her own Somali language while being a progressive human rights champion in English went viral not just because it was a flagrant show of hypocrisy. It exposed how the US and Europe are completely…

— Alessandra Bocchi (@alessabocchi) January 29, 2024

There is a significant ethnic Somali population outside of the war-torn country’s borders, including in Ethiopia.

Somalia has been in a near-anarchic state for more than 30 years since the collapse of a socialist government there. The United States attempted to stabilize the country in the early 1990s, resulting in the deadly Battle of Mogadishu, best known in the movie Black Hawk Down. The battle, which resulted from American forces trying to stop warlords from intercepting food shipments to civilians, resulted in 18 Americans dead.

There have been significant efforts to stabilize Somalia in the past two decades. The instability has also resulted in a rise in crime and Islamist movements. This includes well-known piracy off the country’s coast and Islamist groups linked to ISIS organizing in Somalia.