E-Visa and Airspace Diplomacy: Somaliland’s Moment of Assertion

Following Israel’s recognition, Somaliland faces a defining opportunity to assert its sovereignty by confronting airlines that continue to misuse Somalia’s e-Visa system on its territory.

---

For decades, Somaliland has pursued its diplomatic struggle through patience, restraint, and quiet persuasion. It deliberately chose a path removed from noise and provocation, focusing instead on institution-building, internal peace, and the gradual accumulation of international trust. That approach has yielded stability and credibility. Yet history shows that there are moments when endurance alone is insufficient. Certain causes require clarity, firmness, and visible action. The issue of e-Visas and airline compliance has now become such a moment.

Despite Somaliland operating its own independent e-Visa system, several international airlines flying into Hargeisa and Berbera continue to require passengers to obtain Somalia’s e-Visa. This is not a technical oversight. It is a political violation. By enforcing a foreign visa regime on Somaliland’s territory, these airlines directly undermine its claim to self-governance and legal authority.

The issue has taken on greater strategic significance following Israel’s recent recognition of Somaliland. Recognition is not a symbolic document to be filed away. It is a political instrument. It is meant to be exercised, tested, and operationalized. If Somaliland wishes to demonstrate that recognition carries practical meaning, it must begin where sovereignty is most visible and least ambiguous: airspace control, visa policy, and border management.

Every aircraft that lands in Somaliland after accepting Somalia’s e-Visa sends a damaging signal. It implies that Somaliland lacks an independent legal system and administrative authority. That message contradicts reality and weakens the national case for recognition at precisely the moment when momentum should be consolidated.

This reality demands a firmer policy response than in the past.

Any airline that refuses to recognize Somaliland’s e-Visa system should be denied access to Somaliland’s airspace.

There can be no acceptance of “business as usual” built on political neglect.

Aviation is not merely transportation. It is recognition in motion.

At the same time, Somaliland must act strategically rather than defensively. Israel’s recognition should be leveraged as a diplomatic opening. Instead of continuing to rely on airlines that disregard Somaliland’s legal framework, the government should initiate talks with Israeli carriers to establish direct or transit flight routes. Such engagement would serve two critical purposes.

First, it would demonstrate that Somaliland has alternatives and choices. Second, it would help build economic and diplomatic relationships grounded in mutual respect rather than ambiguity.

The modern international system operates on interests and pressure, not sympathy. No state protects another’s sovereignty by default. If Somaliland allows companies operating on its soil to ignore its laws, it gradually erodes its own argument for recognition.

Contemporary diplomacy is not conducted through statements alone. It is executed through consequential decisions. At times, grounding a flight carries more weight than issuing a communiqué.

Ultimately, the question is not whether Somaliland has the capacity to act. The question is whether it is willing to show the world that sovereignty is something to be enforced, not requested.

If the answer is yes, then e-Visa enforcement and airline compliance are the logical place to begin.