Many Somali Internal Deportees Hold Somaliland Voter Registration Cards

Lasanod (PP News Desk) — A clearer picture is emerging from the deportation of more than six hundred Somalis from Lasanod by Somaliland government. Most adult deportees showed voter registration cards issued to them by Somaliland government.

“ I voted in the last parliamentary elections and the 2017 presidential elections” said one Somali internal deportee, who asked for anonymity and showed the voter registration card (redacted). “Most adults from South West state have voted in elections. Many of us were born and bred in Lasanod. We have been treated as scapegoats for local power struggles” he added.

A Somaliland voter registration card issued in Lasanod to one of the internal deportees now in Puntland.

Somaliland militias robbed many small business owners of their belongings before forcing them into lorries bound for Burtinle districts where they received a warm welcome and sincere sympathy from locals.

“I was refused to feed my daughter in the lorry but when we arrived in Burtinle my daughter, who fell ill as a result of hunger, was taken to a hospital where she was treated. Despite what we have been through, we are eternally grateful to people of Burtinle for their kindness” said another man who was deported from Lasanod.

© Puntland Post, 2021