Mogadishu — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has responded to the European Union’s decision to impose temporary visa restrictions on Somali passport holders, saying the dispute is centered on the verification process for returnees, not Somalia’s refusal to receive its citizens.

President Mohamud rejected claims that the Federal Government of Somalia had refused to accept Somali nationals being returned from European countries after failing to obtain legal residency status. He said Somalia fully accepts its citizens, but insists that proper identity checks must be carried out before individuals are deported to the country.

“We have not rejected our people. This country belongs to them,” President Mohamud said. “Our concern is about the way these individuals are being returned and how their identities are verified.”

The president said Somalia has previously received individuals who were later found not to be Somali, including people brought to Mogadishu who could not speak the Somali language. He argued that some foreign nationals have falsely claimed Somali identity in an attempt to avoid being deported to their actual countries of origin.

“Anyone who shares our appearance may claim to be Somali to avoid being returned to their own country,” he said. “We have experienced cases where people brought to Somalia were later found not to be Somali and could not even speak Somali.”

His remarks come after the Council of the European Union announced temporary restrictions on visa services for Somali nationals, citing what it described as insufficient cooperation from the Somali government in the readmission of its citizens staying illegally in EU member states.

Under the EU decision, Somali nationals will no longer be eligible for multiple-entry visas for the time being. The standard visa processing period will also be extended from 15 days to 45 days.

The Council said the measures are temporary and will be reviewed based on Somalia’s level of cooperation on the identification, verification and return of its nationals.

The issue has added a new layer of diplomatic tension between Somalia and the European Union, with Mogadishu maintaining that any return process must be based on reliable identity verification to prevent non-Somalis from being wrongly deported to Somalia.