European Union Agency for Asylum
  • Main Menu
  • Top Menu
  • Member Area
  • About Us
    • Who We Are
    • What We Do
    • Management Board
    • Governance and Internal Control
    • Fundamental Rights Officer
    • Legal Basis
    • FAQs
    • Contact Us
  • Training
    • About EUAA Training and Professional Development
    • Learning Approach
    • Training Activities
    • Training Tools
    • Publications and Key Documents
    • Training catalogue
    • Annual Training Report
  • Asylum Knowledge
    • Asylum Report
    • Information and Analysis on Developments in Asylum
    • Data Analysis and Research
    • Country of Origin Information
    • MedCOI (Medical Country of Origin Information)
    • Country Guidance
    • Asylum Processes
    • Dublin Procedure
    • Courts and Tribunals
    • Reception
    • Vulnerability
    • Monitoring of the CEAS
  • Operations
    • Operational Assistance
    • Country Operations
    • SAR Support and Relocation
    • Resettlement
    • EUAA Asylum and Reception Operational Response Catalogue
    • Complaints Mechanism
  • Partners
    • EU Stakeholders
    • International Stakeholders
    • Civil Society and the Consultative Forum
  • Publications / Public Registry
    • Public documents request
  • News
    • Press Releases and News
    • Newsletter
    • Audio Visuals
    • Press and Social Media
    • EUAA State of Asylum Conference
  • Asylum Trends
  • Practical Tools
  • Careers
  • Grants & Tenders
  • Member Area
    • Member area
  • Member area
European Union Agency for Asylum

Header Menu

  • Asylum Trends
  • Practical Tools
  • Careers
  • Grants & Tenders
  • Member Area
    • Member area
Accessibility
  • About Us
    • Who We Are
    • What We Do
    • Management Board
    • Governance and Internal Control
    • Fundamental Rights Officer
    • Legal Basis
    • FAQs
    • Contact Us
  • Training
    • About EUAA Training and Professional Development
    • Learning Approach
    • Training Activities
    • Training Tools
    • Publications and Key Documents
    • Training catalogue
    • Annual Training Report
  • Asylum Knowledge
    • Asylum Report
    • Information and Analysis on Developments in Asylum
    • Data Analysis and Research
    • Country of Origin Information
    • MedCOI (Medical Country of Origin Information)
    • Country Guidance
    • Asylum Processes
    • Dublin Procedure
    • Courts and Tribunals
    • Reception
    • Vulnerability
    • Monitoring of the CEAS
  • Operations
    • Operational Assistance
    • Country Operations
    • SAR Support and Relocation
    • Resettlement
    • EUAA Asylum and Reception Operational Response Catalogue
    • Complaints Mechanism
  • Partners
    • EU Stakeholders
    • International Stakeholders
    • Civil Society and the Consultative Forum
  • Publications / Public Registry
    • Public documents request
  • News
    • Press Releases and News
    • Newsletter
    • Audio Visuals
    • Press and Social Media
    • EUAA State of Asylum Conference
  • Home
  • Country Guidance: Somalia

Guidance note

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Guidance note
    • The structure of the Somali governance
    • The role of clans in Somalia
    • Actors of persecution or serious harm
    • Refugee status
    • Subsidiary protection
      • Article 15(a) QD: death penalty or execution
      • Article 15(b) QD: torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
      • Article 15(c) QD: indiscriminate violence in situations of armed conflict
    • Actors of protection
    • Internal protection alternative
    • Exclusion
  • Common analysis
  • 1. General remarks
    • 1.1. The structure of the Somali governance
    • 1.2. The role of clans in Somalia
  • 2. Actors of persecution or serious harm
    • 2.1. Areas of control and influence
    • 2.2. State actors
    • 2.3. Non-State actors
  • 3. Refugee status
    • 3.1. General remarks
    • 3.2. Persons associated with the government of Somalia and/or international actors
      • 3.2.1. Overview
      • 3.2.2. Federal and state officials
      • 3.2.3. Members of the federal and state armed forces
      • 3.2.4. Electoral delegates
      • 3.2.5. Civilians perceived as ‘spies’ by Al-Shabaab
    • 3.3. Persons fearing recruitment by Al-Shabaab
    • 3.4. Deserters and defectors from Al-Shabaab
    • 3.5. Individuals refusing to pay ‘taxes’ to Al-Shabaab
    • 3.6. Humanitarian workers and human rights defenders
    • 3.7. Journalists
    • 3.8. Individuals (perceived as) contravening social or religious laws/tenets
      • 3.8.1. Individuals (perceived as) contravening Islamic laws in Al-Shabaab controlled areas
      • 3.8.2. Individuals (perceived as) contravening Islamic and customary tenets outside Al-Shabaab controlled areas
    • 3.9. Individuals involved in blood feuds/clan disputes
    • 3.10. Individuals accused of crimes in Somalia
    • 3.11. Minorities
      • 3.11.1. Overview
      • 3.11.2. Low status occupational minorities
      • 3.11.3. Ethnic minorities
      • 3.11.4. Groups specialised in religious services
      • 3.11.5. Clans which can be considered minority groups in local contexts
      • 3.11.6. Individuals in mixed marriages
    • 3.12. LGBTIQ persons
    • 3.13. Women and girls
      • 3.13.1. Violence against women and girls: overview
      • 3.13.2. Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C)
      • 3.13.3. Women and girls fearing forced recruitment by Al-Shabaab
      • 3.13.4. Women and girls who have left Al-Shabaab
      • 3.13.5. Child marriage and forced marriage
      • 3.13.6. Women and girls in clan conflicts
      • 3.13.7. Single women and female heads of households
    • 3.14. Children
      • 3.14.1. Violence against children: overview
      • 3.14.2. Child recruitment by Al-Shabaab
    • 3.15. Persons with disabilities or severe medical issues
  • 4. Subsidiary protection
    • 4.1. Article 15(a) QD: death penalty or execution
    • 4.2. Article 15(b) QD: torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
      • 4.2.1. Arbitrary arrests, illegal detention and prison conditions
      • 4.2.2. Criminality
      • 4.2.3. Corporal punishments
      • 4.2.4. Forced evictions
      • 4.2.5. Healthcare unavailability and socio-economic conditions
    • 4.3. Article 15(c) QD: indiscriminate violence in situations of armed conflict
      • 4.3.1. Preliminary remarks
      • 4.3.2. Armed conflict (international or internal)
      • 4.3.3. Qualification of a person as a ‘civilian’
      • 4.3.4. Indiscriminate violence
        • Indiscriminate violence in Somalia
          • Jubbaland
            • Gedo
            • Middle Juba
            • Lower Juba
          • South-West
            • Bakool
            • Bay
            • Lower Shabelle
          • Benadir/Mogadishu
          • Hirshabelle
            • Hiraan
            • Middle Shabelle
          • Galmudug
            • Galgaduud
            • Mudug
          • Puntland
            • Nugal
            • Bari
          • Regions contested between Somaliland and Puntland
            • Sool
            • Sanaag
          • Somaliland
            • Awdal
            • Wogoyi Galbeed
            • Togdheer
      • 4.3.5. Serious and individual threat
      • 4.3.6. Qualification of the harm as ‘threat to (a civilian’s) life or person’
      • 4.3.7. Nexus/’by reason of’
  • 5. Actors of protection
    • 5.1. The State
      • 5.1.1. The Somali State
      • 5.1.2. Authorities of Somaliland
    • 5.2. Parties or organisations, including international organisations
      • 5.2.1. Al-Shabaab
    • 5.3. Considerations on clan support
  • 6. Internal protection alternative
    • 6.1. Preliminary remarks
    • 6.2. Part of the country
    • 6.3. Safety
      • 6.3.1. Absence of persecution or serious harm
      • 6.3.2. Availability of protection against persecution or serious harm
    • 6.4. Travel and admittance
    • 6.5. Reasonableness to settle
      • 6.5.1. General situation
      • 6.5.2. Individual circumstances
      • 6.5.3. Conclusions on reasonableness
  • 7. Exclusion
    • 7.1. Relevant circumstances
      • 7.1.1. Crimes committed by state forces and state-affiliated forces
      • 7.1.2. Crimes committed by non-state armed forces
      • 7.1.3. Criminal activity
      • 7.1.4. Other types of violence
    • 7.2. Guidance with regard to Somalia
      • 7.2.1. Article 12(2)(a) and Article 17(1)(a) QD
      • 7.2.2. Article 12(2)(b) and Article 17(1)(b) QD
      • 7.2.3. Article 12(2)(c) and Article 17(1)(c) QD
      • 7.2.4. Article 17(1)(d) QD
  • Abbreviations and glossary
  • Country of origin information references

 

Please cite as: EUAA, 'Guidance note' in Country Guidance: Somalia, August 2023.

Print

The guidance note summarises the conclusions of the common analysis and should be read in conjunction with it. It covers the following topics:

  • The structure of Somali governance
  • The role of clans in Somalia
  • Actors of persecution or serious harm
  • Refugee status
  • Subsidiary protection
    • Article 15(a) QD: death penalty or execution
    • Article 15(b) QD: torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
    • Article 15(c) QD: indiscriminate violence in situations of armed conflict
  • Actors of protection
  • Internal protection alternative
  • Exclusion

 

 

Book traversal links for Guidance note

  • Previous
  • Parent
  • Next
Disclaimer: Some of the content of this website was originally created by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), which has since become the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA).

Explore

  • Procurement
  • Careers
  • Practical Tools

Follow Us


Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter


Contact Us

European Union Agency for Asylum

MTC Block, Winemakers Wharf
Grand Harbour, Valletta
MRS 1917
Malta

Tel: +356 2248 7500
Email: info@euaa.europa.eu


  View Sitemap  

Sitemap

  • About Us
    • Who We Are
    • What We Do
    • Management Board
    • Governance and Internal Control
    • Fundamental Rights Officer
    • Legal Basis
    • FAQs
    • Contact Us
  • Training
    • About EUAA Training and Professional Development
    • Learning Approach
    • Training Activities
    • Training Tools
    • Publications and Key Documents
    • Training catalogue
    • Annual Training Report
  • Asylum Knowledge
    • Asylum Report
    • Information and Analysis on Developments in Asylum
    • Data Analysis and Research
    • Country of Origin Information
    • MedCOI (Medical Country of Origin Information)
    • Country Guidance
    • Asylum Processes
    • Dublin Procedure
    • Courts and Tribunals
    • Reception
    • Vulnerability
    • Monitoring of the CEAS
  • Operations
    • Operational Assistance
    • Country Operations
    • SAR Support and Relocation
    • Resettlement
    • EUAA Asylum and Reception Operational Response Catalogue
    • Complaints Mechanism
  • Partners
    • EU Stakeholders
    • International Stakeholders
    • Civil Society and the Consultative Forum
  • Publications / Public Registry
    • Public documents request
  • News
    • Press Releases and News
    • Newsletter
    • Audio Visuals
    • Press and Social Media
    • EUAA State of Asylum Conference
© European Union Agency for Asylum 2025

Legal and Data Protection Website Accessibility Policy EUAA Web Design System EUAA terminology database