By Abdinoor Hagi Mohamed

Almost everyday a Somali refugee is killed in many parts of South Africa, particularly Cape Town and neighboring cities and townships. The crime is collectively committed by police, security forces and the communities residing those crime-ridden locations. It is something we never expected that our boys would be slaughtered in South Africa , the very country we had supported to get rid of the white minority rule. And after all it is extremely shocking to see this kind identity-focused killings (targeting only Somalis)when the leadership of the country is run by the African National Congress (ANC)which itself had undergone a painstaking struggle to fight against injustice based on the identity of person. And I don’t think I am exaggerating if I mention that we selflessly defended the ANC during the darkest days of the apartheid era.

Witnessing such horrible scenes of killing and segregation is quite unbearable but does the Somali refugee have an option? Can he come back to his country? I need answers not from the South Africans but from those so called Somali leaders who are today meeting in Khartoum, Sudan to waste time and resources in endless conferences to reach consensus on how to further deepen the crisis of this ill-fated nation. The Somali Union of Islamic Courts and the Transitional Federal Government are holding talks today in Khartoum to come up with a plan not to empower the people, but to share power at the expense of dying masses and Somali refugees. I must express here my heartfelt gratitude to South Africans who raised their voice to contain this atrocity against the Somali refugees. My deep thanks go to Mr. Glenn Ashton in Noordhoek who produced an article ("Somalis should get our respect and protection") on Cape Times and posted it later at Hiiraan online, the most trusted Somali Website for its balanced news and feature articles.

As the Sound of chirping birds
Pierced through the misty wind
Ali woke up from a deep slumber
Washed and dressed so neatly
Took a sip of a steaming coffee 
Kissed his wife and daughter
And off he melted in the rays

But soon as Ali reached his shop
Terror greeted him with gunshots
Ali was hit twice in the head
He fell down as bullets Ricocheted
His shop was terribly ransacked

National Police did not take action
Papers covered it up with thuggery
Assailant swims in crime waters like a fish
Victims hide in fear of the worst
But the guilty enjoys pure freedom
Waiting in earnest for a second prey
What a pain!
Oh if I only had a peaceful country

Has Ali done anything wrong?
No, nothing. Nothing at all
Just because he was a Somali
Just because he was a refugee
Just because he had business talent
Just because of a tumbling justice
Just because of racist sentiments
If Mandela were dead today
He would turn on his grave 

Abdi-Noor Haji Mohamed 
Mogadishu, Somalia.

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