# Somalia and Bangladesh > Somalia–Bangladesh relations: UNOSOM troops, the Jahan Moni and MV Abdullah piracy cases, trade in food and sugar, envoys and talks from 2021 to 2026. Source page: https://calankii.com/en/relations/bangladesh/ Last checked: 2026-11-13 Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com) ## How do Somalia and Bangladesh relate today? The two countries have no embassies in each other's capitals. On 30 November 2025 Sheikhnur Mohamed Hossain, Somalia's ambassador in Islamabad, called on the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) in Dhaka ([FBCCI, 30 November 2025](https://fbcci.org/web/news/the-ambassador-of-somalia-met-the-fbcci-administrator)). They discussed trade and investment in livestock, medical services and medicines (same source). In April 2026 Bangladesh joined a statement by Muslim-majority countries against Israel's plan to appoint an ambassador to [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Shabelle via AllAfrica, 19 April 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202604200211.html)). The statement called the plan "a clear violation of Somalia's sovereignty, national unity, and territorial integrity" (same source). The best-known contacts between the two peoples have been at sea. Somali pirates held the Bangladeshi ships Jahan Moni in 2010–2011 and MV Abdullah in 2024 (see below). ## When did contact begin? Both countries are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). The first large Bangladeshi presence in Somalia came with the UN missions of the early 1990s. Bangladesh is listed among the troop contributors to UNOSOM I ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I facts](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1facts.html)) and [UNOSOM II](/en/history/un-intervention-1992-1995/), which ran from March 1993 to March 1995 ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM II facts](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)). ## Who are the ambassadors and envoys? - **Somalia to Bangladesh:** Somalia covers Bangladesh from its embassy in Islamabad. Ambassador **Sheikhnur Mohamed Hossain** visited Dhaka in November 2025, with **Asma Haghi**, named as the embassy's diplomatic coordinator ([FBCCI, 30 November 2025](https://fbcci.org/web/news/the-ambassador-of-somalia-met-the-fbcci-administrator)). - **Bangladesh to Somalia:** no resident mission in Mogadishu was found. ## Who built the tie? - **Balal Mohamed Cusman**, Somalia's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, met Bangladesh's Foreign Minister **AK Abdul Momen** on 17 November 2021 at the IORA Council of Ministers. They agreed to work together on education, IT and agriculture ([The Business Standard, 18 November 2021](https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/somalia-dhaka-agree-establish-cooperation-education-it-agriculture-331300?amp)). - **AK Abdul Momen** proposed contract farming on unused Somali land, places for Somali students in Bangladeshi private universities and a double taxation agreement (same source). - **Sheikhnur Mohamed Hossain**, Somali ambassador, met FBCCI administrator **Md. Abdur Rahim Khan** in Dhaka on 30 November 2025 ([FBCCI](https://fbcci.org/web/news/the-ambassador-of-somalia-met-the-fbcci-administrator)). - **Meherul Karim**, chief executive of KSRM Group, led the company's talks that freed the MV Abdullah in 2024. He said KSRM drew on its experience with the Jahan Moni in 2010–2011 ([The Business Standard, April 2024](https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/we-used-2010s-jahan-moni-rescue-experience-help-free-mv-abdullah-crew-ksrm-827961)). ## What agreements have they signed? No bilateral treaty or memorandum was found. In 2021 the two sides agreed in principle to cooperate in education, IT and agriculture; a double taxation agreement was proposed by Bangladesh ([The Business Standard, 18 November 2021](https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/somalia-dhaka-agree-establish-cooperation-education-it-agriculture-331300?amp)). ## Which leaders have visited? - **17 November 2021:** ministers met on the sidelines of the 21st IORA Council of Ministers ([The Business Standard](https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/somalia-dhaka-agree-establish-cooperation-education-it-agriculture-331300?amp)). - **30 November 2025:** Somalia's ambassador in Islamabad in Dhaka ([FBCCI](https://fbcci.org/web/news/the-ambassador-of-somalia-met-the-fbcci-administrator)). ## How much do they trade? Bangladesh's most recent report to the UN of trade with Somalia is for 2018. That year it exported goods worth US$15.6 million to Somalia and imported almost nothing ([UN Comtrade, Bangladesh reporter, 2018](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=50&period=2018&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M)). The main exports were ([UN Comtrade, by chapter, 2018](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=50&period=2018&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=X)): - prepared vegetables and fruit, US$7.4 million - sugar and sugar sweets, US$2.4 million - medicines, US$2.3 million - flour and bakery products, US$1.0 million - drinks, US$0.9 million In 2025 the two sides named livestock, medical services and medicines as areas to grow ([FBCCI, 30 November 2025](https://fbcci.org/web/news/the-ambassador-of-somalia-met-the-fbcci-administrator)). ## How much aid and money has gone in? UN OCHA's Financial Tracking Service lists no humanitarian funding to Somalia from the Government of Bangladesh in the years checked, 2008 to 2025 ([OCHA FTS, Somalia 2011 by source](https://api.hpc.tools/v1/public/fts/flow?countryISO3=SOM&year=2011&groupby=organization)). ## What about security? Bangladeshi soldiers served in UNOSOM I and UNOSOM II ([UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom1facts.html); [UNOSOM II](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)). Bangladesh has not been an [AMISOM](/en/institutions/amisom/), [ATMIS](/en/institutions/atmis/) or AUSSOM contributor. See [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/) and [UNOSOM I](/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/). **Piracy cases:** - **Jahan Moni:** hijacked in the Arabian Sea on 5 December 2010 with 25 Bangladeshi crew and the wife of the chief engineer, and taken to the coast near Garacad on 12 December ([The Financial Express](https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/print/crew-released-jahan-moni-sails-for-oman)). The ship and crew were freed on 14 March 2011 ([Capital FM, March 2011](https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/2011/03/somali-pirates-free-bangladeshi-ship/)). The Business Standard later put the ransom at US$4 million ([The Business Standard, 2024](https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/we-used-2010s-jahan-moni-rescue-experience-help-free-mv-abdullah-crew-ksrm-827961)). - **MV Abdullah:** a Bangladesh-flagged bulk carrier of S.R. Shipping, part of KSRM Group, seized on 12 March 2024 while carrying 58,000 tonnes of coal from Maputo to Al Hamriya in the UAE, with 23 Bangladeshi crew ([BenarNews, 14 April 2024](https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/bengali/hostages-freed-04142024104335.html)). It was freed early on 14 April 2024; two pirates told Reuters a US$5 million ransom was paid, and KSRM declined to give a figure ([The Business Standard](https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/we-used-2010s-jahan-moni-rescue-experience-help-free-mv-abdullah-crew-ksrm-827961)). Bangladesh's State Minister for Shipping, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, said the ransom reports were untrue (same source). - During the 2024 handover, payment was dropped into the sea from a plane, Somali police patrolled the shore and an EU warship stood off; two warships then escorted the ship to Al Hamriya in the UAE ([Prothom Alo, 14 April 2024](https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/1gvqcn84vi)). See [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/). ## How does Bangladesh deal with Somaliland and the member states? Bangladesh signed the April 2026 statement rejecting Israel's plan to send an ambassador to Somaliland ([Shabelle via AllAfrica, 19 April 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202604200211.html)). No Bangladeshi contacts with Somaliland or the member states were found. ## Have there been disputes? No bilateral dispute was found. ## How many Somalis live in Bangladesh? UNHCR counted 30 refugees and 28 asylum seekers from Somalia in Bangladesh at the end of 2025 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=100&yearFrom=1990&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=BGD)). ## Where does Bangladesh stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia? - Troop contributor to UNOSOM I and UNOSOM II ([UN Peacekeeping](https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unosom2facts.html)). - In 2021 Somalia asked Bangladesh to back its candidacy for a UN Security Council seat for 2025–2026; Bangladesh asked for Somalia's support for its IMO and Human Rights Council bids and on the Rohingya question ([The Business Standard, 18 November 2021](https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/somalia-dhaka-agree-establish-cooperation-education-it-agriculture-331300?amp)). - In April 2026 Bangladesh backed Somalia's territorial integrity in the joint statement on Somaliland ([AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202604200211.html)). ## Related pages - [Somalia and Pakistan](/en/relations/pakistan/) - [Somalia and India](/en/relations/india/) - [Somalia and the OIC](/en/relations/oic/) - [Somalia and Israel](/en/relations/israel/) - [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/) - [UNOSOM I](/en/history/unosom-i-1992-1993/) - [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/) --- I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. 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