COMMON ANALYSIS
Last update: October 2025
The analysis below is based on the following EUAA COI reports: Country Focus 2025, 1.1., 1.2., 1.3., 1.10.; Security 2025, 1.2., 1.5.; Country Guidance should not be referred to as a source of COI.
Criminal activity in Somalia is widely reported, including killings, sexual violence, abductions, theft, trafficking in human beings, money extortion/illegal taxation, piracy, human and/or arms smuggling. In some cases, these crimes are linked to armed groups, such as Al-Shabaab. Such serious (non-political) crimes would trigger consideration of the application of Article 12(2)(b)/Article 17(1)(b) QD/QR.
Violence against women and children (for example, in relation to domestic violence, honour-based violence, child labour, forced and child marriage, FGM/C) could also potentially amount to a serious (non-political) crime.
Some serious (non-political) crimes could be linked to an armed conflict (e.g. if committed in order to finance the activities of armed groups) or could amount to fundamentally inhumane acts committed as a part of a systematic or widespread attack against a civilian population (e.g. kidnapping of recruits, taxation to finance the activities of non-state armed groups), in which case they should instead be examined under Article 12(2)(a)/Article 17(1)(a) QD/QR.