Hiiraan Online

by Abdirahman Omar Osman (Eng. Yariisow)
Sunday, July 13, 2008

Somalis have been in UK for more than 100 years. The first man came to the UK shortly after the opening the Suez Canal in 1869. A number of former seamen served in the Merchant Navy and Royal Navy in the Second World War, Falklands War and other conflicts. Somali seaman Mahmood Mattan, was wrongly executed in Cardiff jail in September 1952 for murdering a woman shopkeeper in Butetown, Cardiff. The conviction was overturned by the appeal court in 1998, but it was too late to save him. His execution was the last capital punishment in UK.

Since the civil war in Somalia, the UK witnessed influx refugees from Somalia. There is a large Somali community in UK and it is estimated around 150.000, a number of them are now British Citizens.

CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY SOMALIS

Somalis in UK made valuable contributions to the UK society. Some of their contributions are:

There are small businesses run by Somalis, such as internet café, Somali restaurants, etc.

Run down estates in most of cities are now filled by Somalis. As a result of their occupation, most of these estates are now vibrant areas where businesses are usual. Also some of council estates in London where authorities experienced high number of crimes were transformed by Somalis. It can be argued that Somalis contributed the regeneration of some estates in UK. An example of this is Small Heath, Birmingham as the area was run down 6 years ago and now the area is booming with small businesses and community centers for Somalis living in Birmingham.  

Somalis also made valuable contributions to the British Muslims. In particular Somali women with their hijab clothes were almost non existence in UK. However, now days they are part of the fashion. Somalis are visible in most of the mosques in UK and some of these mosques are now owned by Somalis.

There are lot of Somalis who are drivers of London Busses and some work for local authorities or government.

Mohamed Farah is one of Britain’s rising athletic stars. He won silver medal in Britain’s European junior cross-country.

Let us not forget Rage Omar who made positive contributions to the world media.

There are number of Somalis who now regularly attend Universities in UK.  

CHALLENGES FACED BY SOMALIS

Despite all these positive contributions Somalis in UK face huge challenges and there is little know in UK about their contributions. Some of these challenges are:

Somalis in UK are still finding it difficult to integrate to the UK society. There are stereotypes and misrepresentations of all Muslims in particular Somalis in UK.

Somali youths in UK experienced difficulties and a number of them are now in prison. A number of Somali youths were murdered in UK in particular in London.  

On 21 July 2005 Somali youths were part of the London bombing plot and this resulted in Somalis being targeted by the Police, other authorities and the media.

Occasionally the media portraits Somalis negatively. Daily express on one occasion blamed Somalis of eating 9 missing donkeys.

Language barrier is one of the main issues faced Somalis in UK. Some of them cannot get appropriate jobs to their skills due to the language.

Somalis in UK are fragmented as there is no single organisation that can represent them.

ACTIVE IN SOMALI POLITICS

Somalis in the UK have been very much active in the Somali politics for sometime. A number of them attended Arte conference and became members of the parliament and members of the TNG cabinet. Somalis in UK also took part Elderot/Mbeghati conference and became members of the parliament and the cabinet. However, it was the first time in 2003 when a group of Somalis from UK went to Nairobi with a view to reconcile between the warring factions. This was the beginning of the realisation and the importance of the Diaspora community. Since then we saw Somali Diaspora groups taking part in the political debates in Somalia.

Somalis in UK also took part in politics in Somaliland and Puntland and made positive contributions to both administrations in terms of good governance, the rule of law and bringing new initiatives to the area. There are parliamentary committees in UK who actively campaign for the cause of Somaliland.

Somalis in UK hosted one of the major Somali conferences in Leicester in April 2007 where many Somali politics including senior officials from the ICU, a number of parliamentarians, scholars, business community and a wide range of Somali groups attended. Since then the Somalis in UK also hosted another important conference in London in August 2007 and established Somali Diaspora Committee. A number of Somalis in UK also attended the Asmara conference in September 2007 and some of them became key members of the executive committee.

The current Prime Minister Nur Adde and some of his cabinet are from UK. It an be argued that Somali Politics changed from stalemate to positive steps towards reconciliation and that credit goes to Nur Adde. Contributions from Somalis in UK were also evident in recent Djibouti talks between the TFG and the ARS. Both leaders in the first round talks were from UK, Abdirisak Ashkir and Abdirahman Abdishakur. Somalis in UK invited Ahmedou Oloud-Abdalla to UK and he gave talks to Somalis in UK on 20 June 2008. He attended and gave a talk to Somalis at Imperial Hotel, he also met Somali students in UK at SOAS and he had a dinner with Somalis at a Somali restaurant in UK.

Somalis in UK has good relationship with Somali Civil Society organisations in Somalia. An example of this is CRD. Somalis in UK facilitated a number of debates, exchanging ideas, lectures, workshops all aimed at advancing the political thinking in Somalia. A number of key individuals came to UK and gave talks or made presentations. Examples of these individuals were late Abdulkadir Yahye, Prof Abdi Samater, Prof Ali Khalif Galeyr, Prof Ahmed Samater, Abdirahman Baadiyow, Jabril Ibrahim Abdulle and many more.

HUMANITARIAN ASSISSTANCE

Somalis in UK have been making contributions in helping Somalis inside Somalia who desperately in need. The UK is the leading country where Somalis send money to their relatives through the hawala system. They also took part in contributing when the disasters occurred in Somalia, such as flooding, sending money to hospitals, and also reaching out to those who fled from their homes. Somalis in UK sent money and contributed to the rebuilding of the capital city when the Islamic Courts where in power.

UK is the base of Universal TV which makes programmes of humanitarian assistance to Somalis inside Somalia. Somalis in UK regularly take part to those programmes and it is evident to all Somalis that UK is the leading country when it comes to assisting Somalis inside Somalia. Somalis in UK also invested in Somalia in different ways. They built properties in Puntland, Somaliland, and other parties in Somalia. They created businesses in Somalia, Dubai and other countries around the globe.

RECONCILIATION

Djibouti Agreement between the TFG and the ARS on 9^th June 2008 was the first step towards reconciliation. Thanks to Nur Adde’s dedication and commitment towards a genuine reconciliation. Both leaders in the first round talks were both from UK, Abdirisak Ashkir and Abdirahman Abdishakur. Somalis in UK are also in Yemen mediating ICU officials with a view of solving recent disagreements between them.

The 9^th of June agreement highlighted important issues such as the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops and the need for UN peacekeeping forces. It was the first time that Somalis saw a real commitment from the International community. It was also the first time which leaders of the ARS met with members of the UN Security Council and they highlighted the need to withdraw Ethiopian troops from Somalia. The agreement if implemented could lead to the withdrawal of the Ethiopian troops which is what most of Somalis wanted to see in particular supporters of the ARS. Thanks to Sheikh Sharif who have shown a leadership and made concessions for the sake of Somalis.

CONCLUSION

Somalis in UK are the leading Somalis in the Diaspora in every aspect both in politics, humanitarian assistance and in businesses. Even though Somalis in UK are making valuable contributions to Somalia, nevertheless, they face similar challenges or obstacles faced by Somali Civil Society organisations inside Somalia. Therefore, the only way out of the morass faced Somalia is to work together as partners. Somalis in the Diaspora as a whole and Somali Civil Society organisations need to devise a holistic approach in order to overcome the currently mayhem in Somalia.

The International Community must show a serious commitment to find appropriate resources and funds needed to finalise the rapid deployment of UN peacekeeping mission. Both parties of Somali political leadership have to come together in order to find a common solution of the current political mayhem in order to create an environment which is conducive to political settlement.

Both political parties should be aiming to revive and reinstate a functioning government that could give a confident to Somalis. In order to reach this aim the following challenges should be addressed by all of us in particular Somalis in the Diaspora and Civil Society groups.

Reconciliation – it is imperative that we find a path that can lead us to unite for the sake of our country. The current Somali Prime Minister’s initiatives towards reconciliation warrants helping hand and to work with him so an effective reconciliation can be implemented.  

Peace and security – Somalis in the Diaspora and Civil Society Organisations inside Somalia have a role to play rather than waiting a functioning government who will deal with security. We should be aiming to undertake researches in order to find a solution to the problems. Advocacy role is also required from us.  

Providing social services – if we work together we can devise a plan to assist donor countries and humanitarian organisations in order to work as partners so an effective development programmes can be implemented. Again we should be taking the lead for this rather than waiting a government that can solve all the ills faced by the society.

Working together - there are many ways that we can work together but it will only happen if we have the same vision for Somalia. It is time to strategically think on ways that we can unite us so we can fulfil our dreams which is a country that is peace, stable and its government is functioning properly.