The delegation met with a group of elders from the Bajuni community in Nairobi. All had left
the Bajuni islands in the early 1990s and had spent time in the Jomvu UNHCR camp in
Mombasa before it was closed in 1997 (see also annex 6). One of the elders had returned to the
Bajuni islands in the late 1990s but had since come back to Kenya. The elders are now in
Nairobi as they chose not to relocate to the Kakuma camp when Jomvu closed.
5.1 Groups and sub-groups, geographical distribution
The Bajuni elders described the Bajuni as a united people that are not divided into sub-groups.
Their community was scattered across the Bajuni islands south of Kismayo, in the city of
Kismayo itself and in coastal settlements south of Kismayo to Raskamboni and the border with
Kenya. Lee Cassanelli refers to small Bajuni communities in Brava and Mogadishu in addition
to the population in Kismayo and the islands.
The elders stated that Kismayo was the original home of the Bajuni people. The name
Kismayo translates into English as "top of the well". The Bajuni can trace their origins in
Kismayo back to the thirteenth century. Some Bajuni moved to the remote islands and south
along the coast towards the border with Kenya when the main Somali clans moved into the
Kismayo area in the nineteenth century, although some remained in the Majengo district of
Kismayo. Cassanelli comments that most anthropologists believe the Bajuni represent a
mixture of Arab, Bantu, Somali and possibly Malay backgrounds.
According to the elders the Bajuni population was distributed in the following locations,
running south from Kismayo to the border with Kenya:
l
Kismayo (mainly in the Majengo district of the city)l
Nchoni - a coastal settlementl
Fuma Iyu Na Tini - an islandl
Koyama - an islandl
Chovaye - an islandl
Istanbul - a coastal settlementl
Chula - the most populated islandl
Ndoa - an islandl
Kudai - an island (location of a police station)5. Bajuni
http://www.udlst.dk/sjle1/somaliaeng00/kap5.html (1 of 6) [8/1/2001 1:20:48 PM]
l
Burkavo - a townl
Raskamboni - a town (location of a former Somali navy base)According to Perouse de Montclos the Bajuni are locally called
tiku, and they are essentiallyfound on the islands of Koyama, Ngumi, Chovayi or Chula and in the city of Kismayo, of
which they claim paternity.
The elders described how the communities on the islands maintained close links with each
other and with Bajuni communities along the coast and in Kismayo. Bajuni from the islands
would usually have spent a part of the year in Kismayo, where it was essential to travel for
trading fish, purchasing essential commodities, medical treatment and any official business
with government bodies.
The elders estimated that before the civil war the total number of Bajuni was some 11,000,
although they were not exactly sure of the number. Cassanelli estimated the number of Bajuni
at perhaps 3,000 to 4,000.
With the collapse of central government in 1991 and the ensuing clan-based civil war many
Bajuni fled the islands and coastal settlements and moved south to Kenya. Some Bajuni
remained on the islands and even in Kismayo but during the civil war it was not possible for
the Bajuni that had left for Kenya to maintain communication with those that had remained in
Somalia.
5.2 Language
According to the elders most Bajuni speak some Somali, although the main language spoken
by the Bajuni is Kibajuni, a dialect related to Swahili. The Bajuni elders advised the delegation
that younger Bajuni, who have lived mainly in exile, alienated from mainstream Somali
society, may have only a very limited knowledge of Somali but they stressed that they should
know at least some key words in Somali as their family elders would have taught them.
Bernard Harborne, Chief of the UN Co-ordination Unit for Somalia, with whom the delegation
met, also stated that most Bajuni are able to speak some Somali in addition to Kibajuni.
The Bajuni elders informed the delegation that, although their language, Kibajuni, is related to
Swahili, their language is very different to the Swahili dialect spoken in the areas of Kenya
immediately below the Kenya-Somalia border, including the islands that continue from the
Somali border down along the coast towards Mombasa, although there are some common
words.
5.3 Socio-economic situation
5.3.1 Relationship with other groups and clans
The Bajuni elders considered that the Bajuni had traditionally held a low status in Somalia and
were regarded as inferior by the Somali clans. The Bajuni had enjoyed very few educational or
employment opportunities and most had survived as fishermen.
Perouse de Montclos considers the Bajuni as a community apart from all other Somali
5. Bajuni
http://www.udlst.dk/sjle1/somaliaeng00/kap5.html (2 of 6) [8/1/2001 1:20:48 PM]
populations. They do not lay claim to being Somali, Bantu or Swahili and they may even have
Indonesian or Yemenite origins. Perouse de Montclos explains that even before independence
the Bajuni felt marginalised and they formed a short-lived political movement, called the
Fiqarini Youth. Since then the region of the Bajuni has been the scene of serious fighting
between the Hawiye and the Darod clan militias. The Bajuni were on good terms with the
Darod, but were accused of treachery when they refused to fight against the Hawiye. Perouse
de Montclos adds that while the Bajuni organised the Darod exodus to Kenya, they were then
blamed for enriching themselves and sinking refugee ships that were refused entry by the
Kenyan authorities.
The Bajuni elders explained that under the Siad Barre administration Somalis had been told not
to use clan names. The Bajuni had been told to refer to themselves not as Bajuni but as
"jazira", meaning islanders. Despite the official policy of Siad Barre opposing clanism the term
jazira enabled clan Somalis to identify the Bajuni as non-Somali. The elders explained that it
was difficult at that time for Bajuni to acquire passports or seamen's certificates and other
official documents and that they were discriminated against in dealings with government
institutions.
The Bajuni elders made it clear that the Bajuni do not consider themselves to be a Benadiri
people, although they did acknowledge that they had some links with the Bravanese people
who live further along the coast past Kismayo towards Mogadishu. Trading links existed
between the Bajuni and the Bravanese before the civil war. The Bajuni traded fish for various
commodities with the Bravanese. One member of the Bajuni group that met with the
delegation stated that his sister is married to a Bravanese man, but the Bajuni elders
emphasised that such examples of intermarriage came about through the traditional trading
links between the Bajuni and the Bravanese rather than from any particular kinship bond.
The UNHCR genealogical table of Somali clans and groups (annex 3) shows the Bajuni as a
Bantu sub-clan. The delegation did not, however, receive information from any other source
that indicated that this was the case.
The Bajuni elders stated that the Bajuni have no close links with the people in Kenya who live
immediately below the Somalia-Kenya border on the coast and islands. The islanders in Kenya
did assist the Bajuni when they left Somalia in large numbers in the early 1990s, before they
travelled on to camps in Mombasa, but links with the islanders in Kenya have not continued
since the Bajuni moved into the camps.
5.3.2 Occupations
The elders informed the delegation that the principal occupation of the Bajuni was fishing in
the waters around their islands in small boats. Fish were traded in coastal towns, mainly in
Kismayo, although the Bajuni enjoyed trading links with the Bravanese further along the coast
from Kismayo towards Mogadishu. There are a number of usually uninhabited islands in the
chain of islands that run south from Kismayo to the border with Kenya. It was usual for the
fishermen to remain for part of the year in small camps on some of these islands, where fish
would be dried ready for trading.
Some Bajuni women worked, mainly gathering shellfish on the islands. They would not
5. Bajuni
http://www.udlst.dk/sjle1/somaliaeng00/kap5.html (3 of 6) [8/1/2001 1:20:48 PM]
accompany the men on the fishing boats or stay with them in the seasonal fishing camps on the
uninhabited islands.
The Bajuni do not fish the waters south of the Somalia-Kenya border as to have done so would
have incurred hostility from the local fishermen there and from the Kenyan Navy, which
patrols the waters along the border.
Those Bajuni that had returned to the islands when the Jomvu UNHCR camp was closed in
1997 had been unable to assume their former occupations as fishermen, as the group of elders
explained. Their property had been taken and they could not reclaim it from clan Somalis who
occupied it. Returnees had been robbed of everything they possessed when they reached the
islands and even those who had managed to resume fishing had had their nets cut and boats
taken from them. In order to survive on the islands some Bajuni had attempted small-scale
farming, but are always at the mercy of the Somali clans that still occupy the islands.
5.4 Security and human rights situation
The Bajuni elders informed the delegation that in the late 1980s, as Siad Barre's rule weakened,
the Bajuni began to suffer more at the hands of Somali clans. Groups of Somalis mounted
looting raids on the Bajuni islands. As Barre's administration collapsed in 1990 and 1991 the
Bajuni were attacked by organised Somali clan militias, who wanted to force the Bajuni off the
islands, particularly the Ogadeni SPM from Raskamboni and, later, Aideed's USC/SNA forces.
Attacks became more severe and rape of Bajuni women was common. Bajuni property in
Kismayo was occupied by the Marehan and mainly by the Majerteen on the islands. As the
situation deteriorated in the civil war many Bajuni left Somalia for Kenya, the majority having
left during 1992, by which time their position had become untenable.
The Bajuni elders stressed very strongly that they considered themselves unable to return to
Somalia. Somali clans still occupy the islands and Kismayo remains in a state of near anarchy.
Although there have been no reports of Bajuni returnees being killed, returnees have been
unable to recover their property and cannot support themselves economically. The elder who
had returned to the Bajuni islands when the Jomvu camp had closed in 1997 described his
experiences on reaching home. He had been beaten and forced to work for no pay, only food,
for clan Somalis who still occupy the islands. After two months he decided to return to Kenya,
even though he knew that he would not receive any support from UNHCR as he had left the
camps.
Wayne Long, Chief Security Officer, UNDP-Somalia, confirmed that the position of Bajuni
returnees to the islands was very poor and that it was very hard for them to maintain
themselves in the face of harassment from occupying Somali clans. He understands that
Somali clans even control Bajuni water supplies on the islands.
Kalunga Lutato, Head of Somali Operations, UNHCR-Nairobi, informed a member of the
delegation on 28 September 2000 that with the fall of Kismayo in June 1999 to allied
SNA/SNF forces a Bajuni-SPM "alliance" was destroyed and Bajuni property on the islands
was looted by SNA/SNF militias, forcing many Bajuni to flee. Some Bajuni made their way to
Bosasso in Puntland. Those Bajuni that remain on the islands are still suffering as the
SNA/SNF forces that took Kismayo regularly attack the islands, looting property and boats. He
5. Bajuni
http://www.udlst.dk/sjle1/somaliaeng00/kap5.html (4 of 6) [8/1/2001 1:20:48 PM]
added that two days earlier UNHCR had received an appeal from the Bajuni still on the islands
stating that the islands were now occupied and controlled by Somali militias.
Wayne Long informed the delegation that the security situation in the far south of Somalia is
chaotic and very unsafe, with clashes continuing between rival Somali clan militias. The area
is also prone to Islamic fundamentalist activity. Regarding Kismayo, he described the situation
there since the city's capture by SNA/SNF forces as "hell".
5.5 Bajuni refugees in Kenya
The Bajuni elders informed the delegation that most Bajuni who fled Somalia in 1992 had
initially travelled to Mombasa and were accommodated there or in the Marafa camp near
Malindi. From 1993 they were accommodated at their own request in their own camp at
Jomvu. In 1997 the Kenyan Government asked UNHCR to close Jomvu camp. The Bajuni
elders stated that UNHCR, at the time, considered that conditions in the Bajuni islands were
sufficiently good for the Bajuni to be able to return there. UNHCR therefore gave the Bajuni in
Jomvu the choice of relocation to the Kakuma camp, inland in the Rift Valley, or returning to
the Bajuni islands in Somalia. UNHCR encouraged Bajuni elders to return to the islands, as
this would then encourage other Bajuni to follow.
Kalunga Lutato explained that Jomvu camp was closed for a combination of reasons. Firstly,
the Kenyan government decided that Somali refugees should leave the designated areas along
the coast as there was no justification for camps to be sited in populated areas, such as around
Mombasa. The Kenyan government designated the Dadaab refugee camp as the major place of
refuge for Somalis. Those that had problems there were later moved to Kakuma camp. A
second consideration was that up to May-June 1999 the areas of origin in Somalia of some
minorities, such as the Bajuni, were seen by UNHCR as being safe for returns. A large
majority of Bajuni were therefore repatriated to the Bajuni islands. Kalunga Lutato stated that
UNHCR was sorry that some Bajuni had not opted for repatriation as the closure of the camps
on the coast meant that some Bajuni had to transfer to Kakuma camp in north-western Kenya,
an inland area far away from the sea and the normal Bajuni environment. UNHCR had
believed that the Bajuni would only stay in Kakuma for a temporary period but in June 1999
the allied forces of the SNF and Aideed's SNA took over Kismayo and expelled General
Morgan's SPM forces, as a result of which UNHCR decided that further returns to the Bajuni
islands were not possible.
According to the Bajuni elders some 2,500 Bajuni returned to the islands in Somalia from 1997
onwards but received no assistance other than the cost of their journey home. Those Bajuni
that remained in Kenya were unhappy at the prospect of relocation to Kakuma camp. Being a
coastal people they would have preferred to remain in Jomvu on the coast. The Bajuni elders
stated that their position in Kenya was very poor, as UNHCR would only provide support to
Bajuni who moved to Kakuma camp. The elders that met with the delegation were living in
Nairobi and were reliant on donations from sympathetic religious groups and individuals.
Bernard Harborne informed the delegation that UNHCR ended the repatriation of Bajuni in
1999 after Kismayo changed hands and the security situation deteriorated in the far south of
Somalia