Document #1060202
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
The Biyomal, a small group that lives in
the vicinity of Mogadishu, is a subclan of the Dir. According to
the Supplement to Information on Country Conditions on
Somalia, "The Dir family can be divided into three sections:
Issa, Gadabursi, and Biyomal [Biyemal]" (Toronto Front 15 Feb.
1996, 51).
According to The Price of Peace:
Somalia and the United Nations 1991-1994, the Biyamal are the
majority clan in the Lower Shebelle (Gilkes 1994, 144). Gilkes
distinguishes between the northern Dir and the southern Dir and
notes that although the Biyamal were known for their struggle
against the Italians, as a southern Dir group, they "were
previously ignored." (144). Gilkes states that the Dir and
particularly the Biyamal, supported the Southern Somali National
Movement (SSNM), but adds that the SSNM had split. "Early in 1993
its chairman, Colonel Abdi Warsame, broke with General Aydeed and
took part of the SSNM with him when he aligned himself with Ali
Mahdi" (147).
For additional information on the Biyomal
and the SSNM please consult Responses to Information Rquests
SOM24908 of 4 September 1994 and SOM18537.E of 4 October 1994,
which are available at Regional Documentation Centres.
Information on the treatment and current
situation of the Biyomal could not be found among the sources
currently available to the DIRB.
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information
currently available to the Research
Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
Reference
Gilkes, P.S. September 1994. The
Price of Peace: Somalia and the United Nations 1991-1994.
Bedfordshire, U.K.: Save the Children's Fund.
Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB),
Toronto Front. 15 February 1996. Supplement to Information
Session on Country Conditions on Somalia.
Additional Sources Consulted
Africa Confidential [London].
Weekly.
Africa Research Bulletin: Political,
Social and Cultural Series [London]. Monthly.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service
(FBIS) Daily Reports. 1996-1997.
Horn of Africa Bulletin
[Uppsala]. Bimonthly.
The Invention of Somalia.
Edited by Ali Jamale Ahmed. 1995. Lawrenceville, NJ: The Red Sea
Press.
Keesing's Record of World
Events [Cambridge]. 1996-1997.
Lewis, I. M. 1994. Blood and Bone:
The Call of Kinship in Somali Society. Lawrenceville, NJ: The
Red Sea Press.
New African [London].
Monthly.
On-line search on NEXIS database.
Three oral sources consulted did not
provide information on the requested subject.
Electronic sources: IRB Databases,
Global News Bank, Lexis/Nexis, Internet, REFWORLD (UNHCR dtabase),
World News Connection (WNC).