From what I understand, they basically run the entire chunk of land themselves. They have foreign relations and they seem pretty independent. But noone has recognised them. So… why? Am I missing smth?
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Realpolitik. Somaliland probably meets all reasonable definitions of an independent state and thus deserves recognition, but many African nations are concerned that recognizing Somaliland as an independent nation would embolden _other_ separatist groups in their own countries to similarly break away. As a result, the African Union will not recognize Somaliland as independent, and as the UN wants to promote the AU as a respected organization, the UN won’t recognize it either.
Countries like the US could probably get away with recognition, regardless of the UN’s stance, but the problems that would come from other African nations (for reasons mentioned above) aren’t worth the benefit.
Because it’s still considered part of Somalia by international right. Unless Somalia and Somaliland sign a contract that recognizes their border they are basically still in a civil war and recognizing Somaliland is “intervention in internal affairs” of Somalia. Most countries are neutral in this conflict, so they do nothing until Somaliland gets officially released from Somalia.
This is kinda the same situation as with China and Taiwan. Taiwan can’t get recognized without angering mainland China. This is also why Taiwan is the only country that recognizes Somaliland
Generally other countries don’t want to set the precedent that it’s possible to unilaterally break off and form your own country.
In addition to what others have said, the international community has spent a *lot* of time and resources trying to re-establish a functioning central government in Somalia after a long-running civil war, with deeply mixed results at best.
If that same community were to recognize Somaliland, it would undermine all their work setting up a government in Mogadishu if they then told that government ‘we’re recognizing this breakaway region and eroding your authority, because frankly, they’re doing a much better job of running things than you.’
In turn, this would risk weakening the ongoing regional fight against Al-Shabaab, the local rebel group that seeks to establish their own theocratic government and has carried out attacks beyond Somali territory.
(Supplemental context: Somalia briefly *had* something of a functioning national government in the aughts, courtesy of the Islamic Courts Union. This government was deposed by a US-backed invasion from Ethiopia, partly driven by the fear that the ICU would become an African Taliban. Ironically, this invasion led to the rise of Al-Shabaab in fighting foreign forces, and they’re more like an African Taliban than the ICU ever was. It’s a giant mess that doesn’t get talked about much in Western media.)
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