1 AMID Working Paper Series 42/2005 The Big Demonstration

In the afternoon of the 17th of March 2004, thousands of Somalilanders were waving their flags and banners and singing Somaliland slogans in Parliament Square in London. The crowd had started gathering outside the Home Office at about 10 in the morning, but, as it grew larger and larger during the day, had been relocated by the Metropolitan Police to Parliament Square. Not quite familiar with the colours and slogans of the crowd, most of the parliamentarians in Westminster and Portcullis House, and most of the people passing by the square, wondered who they were and what they were demonstrating for or against. To the media in the UK, the 17th of March 2004, was an important day, not because of the demonstration taking place in Parliament Square, but because the budget was presented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to Parliament and the public. To the demonstrators and Somalilanders all over the world, however, the day was important for reasons, that had very little to do with the state of the economy and the public finances in the UK. On the 17th of March 2004 Somalilanders from all over England, and Scandinavia as well, came to London to protest in favour of the recognition of Somaliland. Demonstrating at the footsteps of Big Ben, the Somalilanders wished to open the eyes and ears of British parliamentarians and th