A/HRC/33/64 Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism sent communications to the Governments of the three States to point out that such prohibitions had had an unjust impact on the capacity of ethnic Somalis in the diaspora remitting money to their families. Studies have shown that such a prohibition would cost the Somali economy an estimated $1.3 billion, slightly more than the external aid by donor countries.5 The Governments of the three States replied that safeguards had been put in place to permit money transfers while ensuring that such funds did not finance terrorism in Somalia. XII. Rights of ethnic minorities 79. Somalia has several minorities – the Gaboye, the Bajoun and the Bantu – and groups identified on the basis of their trades, such as blacksmiths and potters. The Bantu, the largest minority, are found mainly in the Lower Jubba area, and engage in agriculture. Many Bantus have fled the agricultural area in the Lower Jubba basin to other safer regions in south-central Somalia because of the attacks conducted by Al-Shabaab and the conflict, the drought and the inter-clan fighting over pasture lands. Minority ethnic groups do not have adequate representation under the 4.5 formula (see para. 14 above) in Somalia. Minority clans are subject to marginalization because they are not fully integrated into the clan-based political system or into other aspects of socioeconomic life in Somali society. Minorities in Somalia do not benefit from the clan protection system. 80. The Attorney General conceded that minorities did not have adequate representation in governance structures because they are poor and have to form alliances with powerful clans for their protection. According to senior State leaders, the new political framework being negotiated recognizes the need to increase participation of minorities in political structures at the local and federal levels. XIII. Persons with disabilities 81. The Independent Expert is concerned that persons with disabilities are marginalized in Somalia. The State has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities. During one meeting, the Independent Expert was informed by representatives of civil society that persons with disabilities did not receive any support from the Government or the international community. The Government acknowledged that, despite the lack of understanding of the rights of persons with disabilities, it was committed to improving their rights. The Government should carry this commitment through. The rights of person with disabilities were not addressed by Somalia in its national report submitted to the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (A/HRC/WG.6/24/SOM/1). Persons with disabilities should be integrated into national governance structures, and social and economic plans. XIV. Rights of children 82. The Independent Expert learned that, in the first half of 2016, some 8,000 cases of acute watery diarrhoea and cholera were reported in south-central Somalia, of which about 5 Manuel Orozco and Julia Yansura, Keeping the Lifeline Open: Remittances and Markets in Somalia, Oxfam America, ADESO and Inter-American Dialogue, 2013. 17

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