Thursday February 9, 2023
London (HOL) - Somalia officially reopened its embassy in London after a 32-year hiatus on Thursday.
The embassy, located at Winchester House on Old Marylebone Road in central London, will provide consular services to the nearly 500,000 people in the UK who are eligible for Somali citizenship.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Somali Ambassador to the United Kingdom Abdulkadir Ahmed Kheyr Abdi, as well as prominent Somali-Brits, including 4x Olympic champion Sir Mohamed Farah (Mo Farah and Anti-khat campaigner Abukar Awale.
Close to two dozen Somali-Brits were on hand at the ceremony, which featured Somali-Canadian model and climate activist Sabrina Dhowre as a special guest.
The Ambassador said that reopening the embassy is a positive step in strengthening UK and Somali relations.
The embassy will assist Somali citizens living, working, or travelling to the UK with consular services and host cultural and other informative events.
The Somali Embassy in London officially closed in 1991 following the collapse of the central government. Britain opened its embassy in Mogadishu in 2013 after a 22-year absence.
The embassy is located on the third floor of Winchester House at 259-269 Old Marylebone Road, London NW1 5RA.