Speaking during Somalia\u2019s Independence Day celebrations in Mogadishu, President Mohamud said reports suggesting Somalia had rejected its citizens were false.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been told that the European Union imposed visa restrictions on Somalis because Somalia refused to accept its citizens. That is simply not true,\u201d the president said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo Somali citizen can be denied entry into their homeland, and we are not refusing our citizens.\u201d The president explained that the disagreement between Somalia and the EU is not about rejecting deportees but about verifying the identity of individuals being returned. He noted that some people who obtained asylum in Europe by claiming to be Somali are, in fact, nationals of other countries or hold different citizenships.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to first verify that those being deported are genuinely Somali citizens. If they are not, they should be returned to their actual country of nationality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
President Mohamud\u2019s remarks come after the Council of the European Union announced a temporary tightening of Schengen visa rules for Somali nationals, citing what it described as insufficient cooperation by Somalia on the readmission of people staying irregularly in Europe. The EU has previously stated that the visa restrictions will only be lifted once Somalia demonstrates full cooperation in accepting deportation flights carrying its nationals.<\/p>\n
The issue is likely to carry broader political weight as Somalia navigates federal power-sharing, regional competition and the search for stronger public institutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Speaking during Somalia\u2019s Independence Day celebrations in Mogadishu, President Mohamud said reports suggesting Somalia had rejected its citizens were false. \u201cWe have been told that the European Union imposed visa restrictions on Somalis because Somalia refused to accept its citizens. That is simply not true,\u201d the president said. \u201cNo Somali citizen can be denied entry<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":7601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,7,12,13,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-editors-choice","category-featured","category-featured-health","category-most-viewed-news","category-news-highlights","category-example-1"],"yoast_head":"\n