Somalia Emigration and Immigration

Online Sources

 * 1878-1960 UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960, at Ancestry.com, index and images. ($)
 * 1884-1915 French Overseas Civil Registration and Parish Registers, French Somali Coast, index and images.
 * 1890-1960 Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960 at FindMyPast; index & images ($)
 * 1946-1971 Free Access: Africa, Asia and Europe, Passenger Lists of Displaced Persons, 1946-1971 Ancestry, free. Index and images. Passenger lists of immigrants leaving Germany and other European ports and airports between 1946-1971. The majority of the immigrants listed in this collection are displaced persons - Holocaust survivors, former concentration camp inmates and Nazi forced laborers, as well as refugees from Central and Eastern European countries and some non-European countries.

British Overseas Subjects

 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Births and Baptisms, Somalia, index and images, ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Banns and Marriages, Somalia, index and images, ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Deaths and Burials, Somalia, index and images, ($)

Finding the Town of Origin in Somalia
If you are using emigration/immigration records to find the name of your ancestors' town in Somalia, see Somalia Finding Town of Origin for additional research strategies.

Somalia Emigration and Immigration
"Emigration" means moving out of a country. "Immigration" means moving into a country. Emigration and immigration sources list the names of people leaving (emigrating) or arriving (immigrating) in the country. These sources may be passenger lists, permissions to emigrate, or records of passports issued. The information in these records may include the emigrants’ names, ages, occupations, destinations, and places of origin or birthplaces. Sometimes they also show family groups.

Historical Backgroumd

 * In the late 19th century, Somali Sultanates like the Isaaq Sultanate and the Majeerteen Sultanate were colonized by Italy, Britain and Ethiopia. *European colonists merged the tribal territories into two colonies, which were Italian Somaliland and the British Somaliland Protectorate.
 * Meanwhile, in the interior, the Dervishes engaged in a two-decade confrontation against Abyssinia, Italian Somaliland, and British Somaliland and were finally defeated in the 1920 Somaliland Campaign.
 * Italy acquired full control of the northeastern, central, and southern parts of the area.
 * Following World War II, Britain retained control of both British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland as protectorates.
 * On 1 July 1960, the two territories united to form the Somali Republic.

Immigration Into Somali

 * As of 2012, most emigrants to Somalia consist of Somali expatriates, who have returned to Mogadishu and other urban areas for investment opportunities and to take part in the ongoing post-conflict reconstruction process. Through both private efforts and public initiatives like the Somali Diaspora Corps, they have participated in the renovation of schools, hospitals, banks and other infrastructure, and have played a leading role in the capital's recovery. They have also helped to propel the local real estate market.
 * In 2015, after the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen, many returning Somali expatriates as well as various foreign nationals began emigrating from Yemen to northern Somalia.

Emigration From Somalia

 * The Somali diaspora refers to Somalis who were born in Greater Somalia and reside in areas of the world that they were not born in.
 * The civil war in Somalia greatly increased the size of the Somali diaspora, as many Somalis moved from Greater Somalia primarily to the Arabian peninsula, Europe, North America, Southern Africa and Australia.
 * There are also small Somali populations in other pockets of Europe and Asia.
 * The UN estimates that in 2015, approximately 2 million people from Somalia were living outside of the country's borders.