Time to be visible: UK Somali voters and Local Councillors make a mark

Hiiraan Online
Wednesday May 28, 2014

Newly elected Councillor Amina Ali speaking at the launch of the Tower Hamlets Somali Friends of Labour event before her election success.

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The Somali community in the UK is one of the largest Black Minority Ethnic (BME) group living across the main cities such as Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and the capital London. Most have arrived either as refugees after the fall of the Somali state in 1991 or as European Union (EU) Member State nationals exercising their Free Movement within the EU as workers’ although a minority of Somalis had settled in the UK after the Second World War after serving in the British armed forces.

Despite their large number in the UK, currently estimated at 250,000, the Somali community in Britain has been labelled as the “Invisible community” and a “minority within a minority.” In most official statistics, they come at the bottom of the pile in key areas such as education, employment and health. This has been complicated by the lack of identifiable and unifying community organisations and civil society groups that most Diaspora groups rely on to advocate on their behalf. The often horrendous refugee experiences of the Somali community have taken a great toll on their abilities, confidence and their way of life in the UK. The Somali European citizens themselves who mainly were refugees in other member’s states first before gaining their national status have not had an easy ride either. They all experienced difficulty with integration, racism and unemployment in their own adopted states.

“Holland was a nice place and the people were good to us but after the September 2011 attacks in America people started not to trust Muslims,” Mohamed Aden, a London based businessman said. “That is why I came to the UK.”

“Doing anything in Sweden needs too much paperwork, language and there is too much regulation of everything but here I set up my internet shop in one week,” Said Jamal Nassir another businessman in London.

“Wearing anything religious made you a victim in France of open racism sometimes but in the UK people are free to be what they want to be. This is why I came here,” Asha Mohamed stated in her bright small Somali clothes store in Birmingham.

Across the UK in cities like Birmingham, London and Bristol Somalis are making their presence felt as more and more of them gain higher education, enter prestigious professions and more importantly, become local politicians. In the UK there is an encouraging number of Local Councillors of Somali origins who have recently entered local politics. However at present, the majority are concentrated in the capital city, London, and in one Party, Labour.

British Somalis going to vote during Thursdays local and European elections.

“Active citizenship is our key priority because without it nobody would vote and no Councillor or budding MP will have a chance of standing for office,” said Mohamed Mohamoud Cantobo. Mohamed, who is the Chairman of a Bristol based Diaspora awareness raising organisation ActForSomalia, has stated that he and his organisation have been at the forefront of registering voters to vote in the local Council and European Union elections that took place Thursday 22nd May 2014. To date, Mohamed believes they have registered over 1000 voters and by next year’s make or break general election for all British Political Parties, he is hopeful another 2,000 can be registered in Bristol alone.

“It is not just about the election day but education before this point to make people understand they are important for democracy to function. They are the real decision makers in our country and they need to be empowered to believe and act on this.”

During Thursdays elections London based Somali Councillors like Awale Olad of Holborn and Covent Garden and Abdi Aden of Brent were re-elected and Amina Ali, one of only a few Somali female candidates, was elected for the first time in Tower Hamlets.

In a telephone interview Amina Ali described the struggle of campaigning, mobilising her voters and eventually crossing the line to win in one of the most ethnically diverse wards in the whole of London. “I am privileged to have been chosen by the voters of my ward to represent them and I will do so with all my ability and strength,” She said. “My main priorities will be regeneration, jobs, decent housing and community education and development.” Councillor Amina Ali expressed her pride at how the Somali community alongside others and the Labour Party activists had come out to support her in the campaign and voted in significant numbers.

Mohamed Mohamoud Cantobo alongside a network of Partners and local Somali organisations aims to spread the message across the country so that a once “invisible” community can fight of the shackles of political insignificance to make its mark on British politics, society and life for the foreseeable future.

“We need more Councillors, MP’s and even Members of the European Parliament in the future,” Mohamed said in a crowded Somali managed shopping centre in Bristol to a loud applause. “If we work as hard as we have this time, we will achieve our goal UK wide.”

HOL English News Desk

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