20/08/2026
🚨 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄
𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐔 𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒’ 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃 𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐘 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏.
𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬,
The Somali Congress of Trade Unions (SOCOTU) issues this uncompromising, militant final warning in absolute rejection of the authoritarian, unlawful exclusion of genuine workers’ representation from the National Child Labour Policy Validation Workshop.
This deliberate, calculated sidelining is not an administrative oversight or a procedural error—it is a hostile, calculated assault on freedom of association, collective bargaining, and the foundational pillars of international labor governance. By permitting or orchestrating the exclusion of legitimate trade union voices from discussions concerning child labor and workers’ rights, the Ministry of Labour—under the reckless leadership of Minister Salim Aliyow—is in flagrant violation of core ILO Conventions No. 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise) and No. 98 (Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining).
Furthermore, we explicitly put the ILO and international agencies on notice: any international body that condones, facilitates, or participates in an exclusionary process designed by state actors to crush independent trade unions makes itself directly complicit in ongoing state-sponsored harassment, silencing, and union-busting.
𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐔𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
1. Total Illegitimacy of Excluded Proceedings: Any national policy, framework, or validation workshop concerning child labor, employment standards, or the socioeconomic fate of Somali workers formulated without the direct, unhindered, and equal participation of SOCOTU is null, void, and entirely lacking in moral or legal standing.
2. Subversion of Tripartism: The absolute cornerstone of international labor standards is tripartism—the mandatory, equal representation of governments, employers, and workers. Barring the authentic vanguard of the Somali working class from the negotiating table obliterates this principle, reducing social dialogue to a hollow, autocratic farce.
3. Absolute Ministerial Accountability: We hold Minister Salim Aliyow and the Ministry of Labour fully, directly, and personally responsible for the escalating industrial tensions, labor unrest, and severe consequences that will inevitably arise from this exclusion.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐈 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒
“𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐬.”
Somali workers refuse to be reduced to silent, compliant spectators while bureaucrats, technocrats, and compromised entities dictate the socio-economic fate of our labor force.
No national policy concerning child labor or social justice holds any structural or moral validity when the legitimate representatives of the workers are locked out.
The tripartite structure of labor governance has been heinously and intentionally subverted by a Ministry attempting to legislate behind closed doors.
𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐁𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍.
SOCOTU reaffirms that Somali workers possess the absolute, unalienable right to demonstrate, protest, and defend their lawful interests against state overreach.
𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐝:
Should any injury, unlawful detention, harassment, (physical abuse), or loss of life occur during our legitimate protests, we explicitly state and declare that full legal, political, and moral responsibility rests directly and solely on Minister Salim Aliyow, the Ministry of Labour, and any complicit agencies or international partners who enabled this unlawful exclusion.
Should the administration arrogantly proceed with this illegitimate workshop, SOCOTU and its affiliated sectoral unions are prepared to execute immediate, uncompromising counter-measures:
1. Industrial Disruption and Solidarity Walkouts: Workers across all critical sectors will initiate immediate, coordinated walkouts and mobilization campaigns to shut down these fraudulent proceedings entirely.
2. Global Labor Mobilization and Censure: We are formally escalating this severe grievance to the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU), global union federations, and the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association, demanding immediate international censure, public condemnation, and rigorous investigative missions into the systemic suppression of Somali trade union rights.
𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍
𝐖𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐋𝐎 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐔𝐍 𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐄 𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋, 𝐔𝐍𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐔.
We await immediate corrective action before workers’ resistance begins.
𝐄𝐍𝐃.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞
𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 (𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐔)
