# Somalia and Yemen > Somalia–Yemen relations: Gulf of Aden trade, Hadrami and Somali communities, refugees both ways, the 2006 Aden Declaration, the Houthi era, envoys and trade. Source page: https://calankii.com/en/relations/yemen/ Last checked: 2026-11-13 Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com) ## How do Somalia and Yemen relate today? Both governments keep embassies and meet regularly. Yemen's ambassador in Mogadishu, Fadl al-Hanaq, met Somalia's foreign minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali on 7 May 2025 and passed on congratulations from Yemen's foreign minister, Shaya Zindani ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 7 May 2025](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/32376/)). Somalia's ambassador to Yemen, Abdul Hakim Mohammed, met Yemen's deputy foreign minister Mansour Bajash in Aden on 21 August 2025 ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 21 August 2025](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/33684/)). Somalia supports Yemen's internationally recognised government. In January 2023 Somalia's foreign minister condemned Houthi attacks on oil facilities and threats to shipping ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 18 January 2023](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/?p=21782)). People still cross the Gulf of Aden both ways. Yemen hosted about 40,000 refugees from Somalia at the end of 2025, and Somalia hosted about 13,500 from Yemen (see below). ## When did contact begin? The two coasts have traded since ancient times; see [The ancient frankincense and myrrh trade](/en/history/ancient-frankincense-and-myrrh-trade/) and [Rasulid Yemen and the Somali ports, 1229–1454](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/). A 2019 Rift Valley Institute study describes north-east Somalia, [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) and southern Yemen as having been "in many respects, extensions of each other", sharing religion and culture ([Rift Valley Institute, Majid and Abdirahman, 2019](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Mobility-Trust-and-Exchange-by-Nisar-Majid-and-Khalif-Abdirahman-RVI-X-Border-Project-2019.pdf)). It names two main sea corridors: Berbera–Aden and [Bosaso](/en/regions/bari/)–Mukalla. It also names the Hadrami of Yemen and the Harti of north-eastern Somalia as the two main migrant groups between them. Somalis were a significant presence in Aden by the late nineteenth century and used it as a market for livestock ([RVI, 2019](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Mobility-Trust-and-Exchange-by-Nisar-Majid-and-Khalif-Abdirahman-RVI-X-Border-Project-2019.pdf)). One person interviewed for the study said: "The Hadramis were coming to Somalia for centuries. They are mainly merchants." ## Who are the ambassadors and envoys? **Yemen to Somalia** - Yemen reopened its embassy in Mogadishu in January 2007, before any other country after the Islamic Courts were driven out ([Al Jazeera, 28 May 2007](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2007/05/2008525132253179278.html)). - **Ahmed Omar**, Yemeni ambassador, attended the opening of Djibouti's embassy in Mogadishu on 14 December 2010 ([Hiiraan Online, 14 December 2010](https://hiiraan.com/news2/2010/Dec/djibouti_government_opens_its_embassy_in_mogadishu.aspx)). - **Fadl Ali Ahmed al-Hanaq**, ambassador in 2024 and 2025 ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 22 May 2024](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/27751/); [7 May 2025](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/32376/)). **Somalia to Yemen** - **Abdul Hakim Mohammed**, ambassador, with an embassy in Aden, Yemen's interim capital, in 2025 ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 21 August 2025](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/33684/)). ## Who built the tie? - **Ali Abdullah Saleh**, then President of Yemen, attended the investiture of [Abdiqasim Salad Hassan](/en/people/abdiqasim-salad-hassan/) on 27 August 2000. He then hosted Hussein Mohamed Aidid, [Osman Hassan Ali](/en/people/osman-ali-atto/) "Atto" and other faction leaders in Sanaa and urged them to join the Arta process ([Al Bawaba/AFP, 31 August 2000](https://www.albawaba.net/news/sanaa-urges-somali-warlords-cooperate-elected-president)). - **Saleh** also hosted the talks that produced the Aden Declaration of 5 January 2006 ([PA-X, Aden Declaration](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/1068/)). - **Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed**, President of Somalia, and **Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden**, Speaker of Parliament, signed the Aden Declaration ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/1068/); [Al Jazeera, 5 January 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/archive/2006/01/2008491255536924.html)). - **Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak**, Yemen's foreign minister, visited Mogadishu in January 2023 and met his counterpart **Abshir Omar**. They discussed reviving the joint committee for economic, scientific and technical cooperation set up in 2013 ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 18 January 2023](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/?p=21782)). - **Ahmed Moallim Fiqi**, as Somalia's foreign minister, met Ambassador al-Hanaq on 22 May 2024 and backed Yemen's stability ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 22 May 2024](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/27751/)). ## What agreements have they signed? - **Joint committee for economic, scientific and technical cooperation, 2013** ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 2023](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/?p=21782)). - **Aden Declaration, 5 January 2006:** a Somali agreement brokered by Yemen to end the dispute between the president and the speaker and reconvene parliament ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/1068/)). A Yemeni official said the leaders agreed in principle that the government would move first to Baidoa and then to Mogadishu ([Al Jazeera, 5 January 2006](https://www.aljazeera.com/archive/2006/01/2008491255536924.html)). ## Which leaders have visited? - **27 August 2000:** President Saleh at Abdiqasim's investiture in Arta, Djibouti ([Al Bawaba/AFP](https://www.albawaba.net/news/sanaa-urges-somali-warlords-cooperate-elected-president)). - **2–5 January 2006:** President Abdullahi Yusuf and Speaker Sharif Hassan in Aden ([PA-X](https://www.peaceagreements.org/view/1068/)). - **January 2023:** Foreign Minister bin Mubarak in Mogadishu ([Yemen MOFA/Saba](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/?p=21782)). ## How much do they trade? Yemen reported this trade with Somalia ([UN Comtrade, Yemen reporter, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=887&period=2024&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M); [2023](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=887&period=2023&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M); [2019](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=887&period=2019&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=TOTAL&flowCode=X,M)): - **2019:** imports from Somalia US$16.6 million - **2023:** exports US$12.4 million; imports US$5.1 million - **2024:** exports US$13.5 million; imports US$10.6 million In 2024, US$10.4 million of Yemen's imports from Somalia were live animals. Its main exports were cereal preparations, dairy products and plastics ([UN Comtrade, by chapter, 2024](https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=887&period=2024&partnerCode=706&cmdCode=AG2&flowCode=X,M)). After Somalia's state collapsed, Yemen became a re-export hub for Somali livestock when Saudi Arabia banned direct imports from Berbera and Bosaso. Somali fish later followed the same route ([RVI, 2019](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Mobility-Trust-and-Exchange-by-Nisar-Majid-and-Khalif-Abdirahman-RVI-X-Border-Project-2019.pdf)). Somali fishers and traders work between Bosaso and Mukalla, about 140 miles apart, and some hold dual nationality (same source). See [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/). ## How much aid and money has gone in? Neither country is a donor to the other. Their main exchange of support has been hosting each other's refugees. ## What about security? The UN Security Council has expressed concern about "illegal flows of weapons and ammunition supplies from Yemen to Somalia" ([UN, S/RES/2444 (2018)](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/RES/2444(2018)&l=en&t=pdf)). In October 2025 the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen reported that Houthi engineers had travelled to [Jilib](/en/regions/middle-juba/) to train al-Shabaab in explosives and drones, and that a facilitator arranged travel for nearly 400 Somalis to Houthi areas for training ([Arab News, 30 September 2026](https://www.arabnews.pk/middle-east/analysis-houthi-and-al-shabab-ties-raise-alarm-over-widening-threat-to-red-sea-shipping-3002763)). Matt Bryden, a former head of the UN Somalia panel, has warned that Yemeni-origin weapons alone do not prove Houthi–al-Shabaab cooperation (same source). See [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/) and [Foreign forces in Somalia](/en/institutions/foreign-forces-in-somalia/). ## How does Yemen deal with Somaliland and the member states? - Most boats from Yemen land at Bosaso in [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and Berbera in Somaliland. In 2015, 30,202 people crossed from Yemen to Somalia, 95% of them ethnic Somalis returning ([UNHCR, Somalia snapshot, 31 March 2016](https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1322431/4765_1461161615_somalia-yemen-snapshot31march2016.pdf)). - In Somaliland and Puntland, clan elders verify the nationality of people arriving (same source). - Bosaso and Mukalla are linked by fishing and trade networks that work largely without documents ([RVI, 2019](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Mobility-Trust-and-Exchange-by-Nisar-Majid-and-Khalif-Abdirahman-RVI-X-Border-Project-2019.pdf)). ## Have there been disputes? No dispute between the two governments was found. Yemen's government and Somalia share a position against the Houthis. Yemen's foreign minister told Somalia in 2023 that the Houthis rejected calls for peace, and Somalia condemned their attacks on shipping ([Yemen MOFA/Saba, 18 January 2023](https://www.mofa-ye.org/Pages/?p=21782)). ## How many Somalis live in Yemen? At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 40,335 refugees and 202 asylum seekers from Somalia in Yemen, down from 255,894 refugees in 2017 ([UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2014&yearTo=2025&coo=SOM&coa=YEM)). In the other direction, Somalia hosted 13,496 refugees from Yemen, up from 5 in 2014 ([UNHCR API](https://api.unhcr.org/population/v1/population/?limit=200&yearFrom=2014&yearTo=2025&coo=YEM&coa=SOM)). See [Yemen (Somali refugees)](/en/diaspora/yemen/). ## Where does Yemen stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia? - Both are members of the Arab League and the OIC. Their foreign ministers also meet on the sidelines of Arab League councils ([Somalia MFA](https://web.mfa.gov.so/tag/somalia-and-yemen/)). - Yemen hosted Somali reconciliation talks in 2000 and 2006 (above). - Yemen does not send troops to the AU mission. ## Related pages - [Yemen (Somali refugees)](/en/diaspora/yemen/) - [Rasulid Yemen and the Somali ports, 1229–1454](/en/history/rasulid-yemen-and-somali-ports-1229-1454/) - [Saad ad-Din's death at Zeila and his sons in Yemen](/en/history/saad-ad-din-death-at-zeila-and-sons-in-yemen/) - [The ancient frankincense and myrrh trade](/en/history/ancient-frankincense-and-myrrh-trade/) - [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/) - [Fishing and the sea](/en/economy/fishing-and-the-sea/) - [Piracy off Somalia](/en/institutions/piracy-off-somalia/) - [Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed](/en/people/abdullahi-yusuf-ahmed/) - [Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden](/en/people/sharif-hassan-sheikh-aden/) --- I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. Fix this page: email hello@calankii.com with the page link and your source.