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On a traffic island in the middle of Somaliland’s capital city, Hargeisa, is the rusting shell of fighter jet shot down in 1988 It stands on a brick platform above a colourful mural depicting a man hoisting the national flag and a woman carrying a baby on her back, surrounded by scenes of death and violence Around the base of the monument a whirlwind of dust and confusion is whipped up by traffic, crowds, and mobile phone chatter and construction noise Advertising boards vie for attention with the market traders; goats feed on discarded vegetables; men rush to afternoon prayers The air is thick with Radio Hargeisa, blasted from the tiny mud hut cafes that line the streets A girl in a blue hijab makes her way through the crowds Though the scars of the civil war that destroyed the country are still visible, Hargeisa is today an energising and vibrant city Somaliland is a breakaway territory in the northwest of Somalia, internationally recognised as an autonomous region Over the past twenty years Somaliland has been building a democratic state, pursuing a process of political and economic reconstruction that has brought security and relative stability since it unilaterally declared independence from Somalia in 1991 Somaliland today has its own currency, car registration numbers and even biometric passports, and is pushing hard to be recognised as an independent nation I am making my way back to the house my family and I fled as refugees in 1988, before starting a new life in London seven years later It’s my first trip back to Somaliland My driver Hassan is a forty-something former soldier who now earns a living by renting out the second-hand Land Rover he bought with the 2,000 dollars sent to him by his brother in Sweden He tells me about his aunt and her family, who were among the estimated fifty thousand people killed during the air strikes of 1988 Like many of the men in this city, he incessantly chews khat, a plant containing an amphetamine-like stimulant which is said to cause excitement and euphoria As