RoobleAlWaliid wrote:Socotra is Yemeni property. Somali's have this weird habit of claiming things when they completely destroyed Somalia.
Just keeping it real walaaliyaal.
Also Mehri are Yemeni midgaans.
Let me also add that Arab Salax, Somali Mehris are sheegato and not genetically related to Yemeni Mehris.
Bro mehris in yemen and socotra speak somali as theyre second language! that is fact!
Additionally, many Mehri today speak as a second language Arabic and Somali, both of which are also Afro-Asiatic languages.
the ones in somalia look just like the ones in omani!
Socotra island is somali property
The history of the island of Socotra | Socotra and Dependencies
"Since the Somalis had no doubt on the ownership of these islands, they wrongly presumed that no one else could claim them. The 20th century politicians naively took it for granted that the British would not hand over the islands to a third country, let alone to a country on a different continent."
The Island of Socotra lies 148 miles east of Cape Guardafui, (Somali: Gees Gardafuul), also known as Ras Asir (Raas Caseyr), (the most easterly point of the mainland of Africa) and directly therefore, in the route of ships from the Red Sea to India. “SOKOTRA is the most easterly, and by far the largest of a group of four islands under the British protection which lie in the Indian Ocean to the north-east of Cape Guardafui. These islands command the ocean trade-route from the Suez Canal to the East and to Australasia. Of the other three islands off Cape Guardafui Abd el-Kuri, the most westerly, is about 20 miles long and 3 1/2 miles wide at its widest part, while the other two, known as the Brothers (Darzi and Samneh), are respectively 3 miles and 6 1/2 miles in length and 1 mile and 3 miles in width. (Phil Robinson, Cyprus and Socotra, London: 1878- Robinson’s book was prepared under the direction of Historical Section of the British Foreign Office).
A journalist, Irena Knehtl regular contributor to Yemen Times newspaper in Yemen describes the geographical position of Socotra and the dependencies in the website Buzzle-com as follows: “Positioned near the southern gateway to the Red Sea, already close to the Somali coast, lies the island of Socotra. It stands there as the guardian of the African Horn and offers peace and tranquility. Known since ancient times as “The Island of Waiting” for better sailing conditions, a transshipment center for goods, it connected ports of the Persian Gulf with East Africa. The island lays on the route for ships heading towards Aden from East Africa and India.
“Socotra is the largest in a small archipelago of four Islands which include the Brothers Samhah and Drasa and Abd Al Kuri. Lying as it does in the Indian Ocean, on a mid-oceanic volcanic ridge 500 km south east of Mukalla, and 240 km from the coast of Somalia. It is roughly 130 km long and 40 km wide, and [has] an area of 3650 square kilometers. Its name may have been derived from Arabic “Suqs Qutra”, meaning the market of dragon’s blood—a reference to the resin of its most famous tree species, or perhaps from a Sanskrit term for the “Abode of the blest”.
“But it is the natural history of Socotra that is likely one of the most fascinating in the world. Their unique character is related to its geological history. It is believed that the separation of Socotra from the African mainland occurred in the middle of the Pliocene era (1.81 million years ago). The high degree of endemism in the flora and fauna is the result of this long isolation from the mainland of Africa. Two thousand years after Socotra is still listed among least explored parts of the world.”
In 1886, Lieutenant-Colonel Kitchener prepared a note on the subject of the lines of British communication in the Indian Ocean. On Socotra, he said, “One of the most important points on our communications with our Australian colonies is Socotra and the adjacent island of Abd-el-Kuri. He went on: “Our present hold on Socotra is very fragile “A treaty exists with the supposed Sultan, who lives on the mainland, and never visits the island, specifying that he will not part with his rights to any foreign power other than England. Our flag was at one time flying on the island, but was hauled down, thereby showing that we gave up any pretensions to the possession of the island. From all that is known there appear to be no laws, nor any recognized authority, and no form of existing government in Socotra … It would not, therefore, be very difficult for any foreign power to deny the authority of the chief recognized by us, and to acquire rights under other treaties with unknown chiefs in the island.” Kitchener contented, “Owing to the recent development of colonial enterprise by Germany on the East Coast of Africa, the possession of Socotra becomes to them a matter of considerable importance. Attempts have lately been made by Germany to acquire some position on the Somali coast, and as these attempts fail, as they apparently have done up to the present, Germany will see the necessity of taking a commanding position on the trade route to their new colonial possessions thus invitingly left open.”
“Should such a case arise, it is most unlikely that we should fight for or even risk war for the possession of Socotra, and yet, in foreign hands, the island becomes a source of considerable danger to our colonial development, and England would be rightly accused by the colonies if she allows such a position to fall through negligence into other hands.” Kitchener concluded by pleading that, “The British flag be again hoisted on Socotra and the adjacent islands.”
Kitchener’s very critical statement angered the Government of Aden. In his memo, Schneider, the then Political Resident at Aden responded by saying, “The erroneous idea on the subject entertained by Lieutenant Colonel Kitchener may have been derived from a historical sketch published by Phil Robinson in the year 1878, where it is mentioned, “the island of Socotra upon which the British flag has recently been hoisted lies 148 miles east of Cape Guardafui (the most easterly point of the mainland of Africa)”. As Schneider does not say where he believes Socotra and dependencies lie, it should be presumed that Kitchener was right.
According to local belief, the Meheri Somalis, who are the original inhabitants of the islands of Socotra and its dependencies, preferred to live on the mainland, Hafun and other places on the Cape Guardafui, for the reason that the sand of the Islands was harmful to the eyes or caused eye disease. A good number of them also reside in Sallala, the Sultanate of Oman...
Since the Somalis had no doubt on the ownership of these islands, they wrongly presumed that no one else could claim them. The 20th century politicians naively took it for granted that the British would not hand over the islands to a third country, let alone to a country on a different continent.
The Somalis are the only people who have suffered most in the eastern Africa and the Red Sea at the hands of the colonial powers. Its territory has been dismembered and unjustly distributed to other countries in the region and beyond, just like piece of cake. In 1897, Britain gave the Somali territory of Ogaden to Abyssinia; in 1948 and 1954 it handed over parts of the Haud and Reserved Area. In 1963, after independence of Somalia, it gave the Somali territory of NFD (Northern Frontier District) to Kenya and finally in 1967 the Island of Socotra and its dependencies to the then South Yemen."
Sources | The book title | Somalia: Past and Present | Author, Mohamed Osman Omar
