DOCSLIB.ORG

The Integration Experiences of Somali Refugee and Asylum Seeker Young People

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Integration Experiences of Somali Refugee and Asylum Seeker Young People Somali Report Cover Nov 07 21/11/07 1:49 pm Page 1 Identities on the Move: the integration experiences of Somali refugee and asylum seeker young people Deborah Sporton • Gill Valentine © cover photograph copyright of Chris Clune Identities on the Move: the integration experiences of Somali refugee and asylum seeker young people Deborah Sporton, Department of Geography, University of Sheffield Gill Valentine, School of Geography, University of Leeds Notes i Definitions: an asylum seeker is someone who has applied for asylum and is awaiting a decision on the outcomes: they do not have the right to work or to benefits and have only limited access to further and higher education; a refugee is someone who has been granted leave to remain in the UK as a refugee. ii The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 does not apply to children arriving under the age of 18 who are granted leave to remain under the Children’s Act (1989) under which they are placed into the care of a Local Authority until their asylum claim is assessed at 18. iii When the integration policy was tightened in 2002 the number of successful applications for Danish citizenship fell by 72% (Danish Refugee Council, 2004). • Young people are wary of Identities on the Move: claiming a British identity the integration because ‘British’ is implicitly still experiences of Somali imagined as a white identity. refugee and asylum • Community space for migrant groups, such as the Somalis, to seeker young people define their own identities is important in giving these groups Most research about the the security to feel they belong to experiences of refugee and asylum the nation. seekers has addressed the experiences of adults. Little is • Integration policies which stress known about the experiences of national identity have the young asylum seekersi, yet they potential effect of legitimising constituted 23% of all asylum negative attitudes by the majority applications in 2005. population towards migrants and their cultures. This two year study by the Universities of Sheffield and Leeds • Somali children (and their focused on the lives of young parents) receive very limited Somalis aged 11-18 in Sheffield, support at school to learn English UK. Using quantitative and and to integrate into the British qualitative methods it explored the educational system. ways in which young Somalis’ identities and affiliations are shaped • Funding is needed to develop the by: their histories of mobility, their educational support that Somali experiences of home, school and community homework clubs community life in the UK; and the provide for Somali young people implications of these experiences for and to link this more strongly their social integration. The research with the British school found that: curriculum. • Intercultural differences are emerging between the generations within the Somali Findings: community. Young people commonly feel their parents do • Somali children have limited not understand their experiences memories or direct experiences of trying to integrate in the UK. of Somali and gain their understanding of what it means • A general crisis of masculinity to be Somali from their families and lack of male mentors is and communities. contributing to a high incidence of youth offending. • Experiences of forced mobility and loss of attachment to place • There is an emerging — but mean the identity ‘Muslim’ hidden — culture of smoking and becomes for many young Somali drinking amongst Somali young people the most important and people which has implications for consistent way that they have of the development of health defining who they are. education initaitives. Identities on the Move: the integration experiences of Somali refugee and asylum seeker young people 1 internal and international migration About the Project as well as the limitations of how The study employed a multi-method data is collected and categorised. It research design combining is estimated however, that about quantitative and qualitative 5,000 Somalis are thought to be elements. The quantitative research living in Sheffield, compared to involved an in-depth survey of young approximately 4,000 in Aarhus. people in schools. This was Given the nature of the diaspora administered within class time, to there are close links between all pupils in years 7, 9 and 11 in Somalis living in Sheffield and eight Sheffield secondary schools Aarhus. This close contact was, for and one further education college. example, experienced in the This provided a database (3313 recruitment of research participants. responses) which allowed the Some Somali families in Sheffield researchers to compare the Somali have either lived in Aarhus respondents’ affiliations and identity themselves prior to undertaking a practices with those of children secondary migration to Sheffield, or from other minority ethnic groups have extended family members and white majority children. currently living in Aarhus. The qualitative stage of the research The interviews were conducted in included work with Somali English, Danish or with a Somali communities and families in interpreter. Quotations from the Sheffield UK, as well as additional interviews that are used in this work in Aarhus, Denmark. report are verbatim, spoken or grammatical errors have not been • participant observation in Somali corrected. All names of specific community spaces, such as people or places have been removed homework clubs; in order to protect the anonymity of the informants. • in-depth interviews with Somali children and their parent(s) exploring their particular histories of mobility, senses of attachment, and understandings Background of their own identities; Asylum seeker children entering the • in-depth interviews with key UK (either as dependents or stakeholders (such as unaccompanied) have until recently representatives from the local received scant attention in authority, schools and immigration and asylum debates. community) about the broader However, in 2006, the UK received contextual issues that shape over 23,000 applications for asylum, young people’s identities; over one-third of these were made by those aged 20 years or under and of • an online exercise in which, these 3,245 were unaccompanied children from Somali homework children (Home Office Asylum clubs were given user names and Statistics 2006). Indeed since 2000 invited to participate in an on- an estimated 24,000 line WebCT forum; unaccompanied children have entered the UK without • and art workshops conducted by identification, documentation or professional therapists. guardians. In particular, those fleeing from conflict in Somalia have figured The numbers of Somalis in Sheffield among the top five groups of asylum and Aarhus respectively are difficult seekers entering the UK in recent to estimate because of the complex years (Henderson 2005). These histories of forced and voluntary, figures mask important differences, 2 Deborah Sporton • Gill Valentine however, both in the journeys and regions. For those who are asylum seeking strategies, embarked subsequently granted refugee status on by young Somalis on route to the or exceptional leave to remain, UK that have implications for the NASS support is terminated and shaping of their identities. It is replaced by Local Authority and known that a large number of Social Services support. For this Somalis arriving in the UK have first group, new initiatives have been set spent time in refugee camps in in place through the Government’s neighbouring Kenya, Ethiopia and Full and Equal Citizens strategy Djibouti. Other unaccompanied (2001) to assist their integration as young children have, according to ‘equal members of society’ across a the United Nations, been smuggled number of spheres including to the UK and other European employment, education, housing etc. countries, dumped at ports where they are able to seek asylum as More recently the plight of asylum unaccompanied minors (IRIN 2003). seeker children has been at the As the law stands, unaccompanied forefront of public debate with the children are automatically granted piloting of changes in policy temporary leave to remain in the UK targeted at so-called ‘failed asylum until a decision is made on their seekers’ who are being ‘encouraged’ status at the age of 18ii. Given that to return home through removal of many of those arriving have no all forms of support. This policy has papers, the assessment of age is however revealed a lack of both open to abuse with those over understanding of the circumstances the age of 18 strategically claiming of children who are subject to to be younger and subject to error as different legislation under the 1989 witnessed by cases of children Children’s Act. As support is detained as adults. An increasing, removed Local Authorities are but undocumented, number of young obligated to take destitute children Somalis are arriving in the UK from away from their parents into care other countries in Europe, in until the age of 18. particular from Scandinavia and the Netherlands where they have already Despite these initiatives, the been granted refugee status. This integration experiences of asylum secondary movement following seeker and refugee children in the several years of residence in Europe UK are poorly understood yet it is is motivated by the desire to reunify particularly pertinent to develop families separated during the conflict policies to support their integration. and has also been associated with an Firstly, because if young people are increase in discrimination and equipped with appropriate skills this unemployment in Europe. will help minimise their risk of social exclusion in adulthood. This increase in the number of Secondly, childhood is perhaps the asylum seekers, including children, best time to intervene to address arriving in the UK over the last integration difficulties because decade have prompted changes in young people are more open to UK government policy embodied in learning and change than adults. the 1999 Immigration and Asylum Thirdly, young people who are not Act and more recently the integrated into society are at risk of Nationality, Immigration and Asylum social harms that can further Act, 2002.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Somalis in Europe
    INTERACT – RESearcHING THIRD COUNTRY NatiONALS’ INTEGratiON AS A THREE-WAY PROCESS - IMMIGrantS, COUNTRIES OF EMIGratiON AND COUNTRIES OF IMMIGratiON AS ActORS OF INTEGratiON Somalis in Europe Monica Fagioli-Ndlovu INTERACT Research Report 2015/12 CEDEM INTERACT Researching Third Country Nationals’ Integration as a Three-way Process - Immigrants, Countries of Emigration and Countries of Immigration as Actors of Integration Research Report Country Report INTERACT RR 2015/12 Somalis in Europe Monica Fagioli-Ndlovu PhD candidate in Anthropology, The New School, New York This text may be downloaded only for personal research purposes. Any additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copies or electronically, requires the consent of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. Requests should be addressed to [email protected] If cited or quoted, reference should be made as follows: Monica Fagioli-Ndlovu, Somalis in Europe, INTERACT RR 2015/12, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, San Domenico di Fiesole (FI): European University Institute, 2015. The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and should not be considered as representative of the official position of the European Commission or of the European University Institute. © 2015, European University Institute ISBN: 978-92-9084-292-7 doi:10.2870/99413 Catalogue Number: QM-04-15-339-EN-N European University Institute Badia Fiesolana I – 50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) Italy http://www.eui.eu/RSCAS/Publications/ http://interact-project.eu/publications/ http://cadmus.eui.eu INTERACT - Researching Third Country Nationals’ Integration as a Three-way Process - Immigrants, Countries of Emigration and Countries of Immigration as Actors of Integration In 2013 (Jan.
    [Show full text]
  • The Contribution of Somali Diaspora in Denmark to Peacebuilding in Somalia Through Multi-Track Diplomacy
    Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies Copyright 2021 2021, Vol. 8, No. 2, 241-260 ISSN: 2149-1291 http://dx.doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/642 The Contribution of Somali Diaspora in Denmark to Peacebuilding in Somalia through Multi-Track Diplomacy Sylvester Tabe Arrey The University of Buea, Cameroon Francisco Javier Ullán de la Rosa1 University of Alicante, Spain Abstract: The paper assesses the ways the Somali diaspora in Denmark is contributing to peacebuilding in their home country through what is known in peace studies as Multi-Track Diplomacy. It starts by defining the concepts of peacebuilding and Multi-track Diplomacy, showing how the latter works as an instrument for the former. The paper then describes and analyzes how, through a varied array of activities that include all tracks of diplomacy as classified by the Diamond&McDonald model, members of Danish diaspora function as interface agents between their home and host societies helping to build the conditions for a stable peace. The article also analyzes how the diplomacy tracks carried out by the Somali-Danish diaspora, as well as the extent of their reach, are shaped by the particular characteristics of this group vis-à-vis other Somali diasporic communities: namely, its small size and relatively high levels of integration and acculturation into the Danish host society. Keywords: Danish-Somalis, multi-track diplomacy, peacebuilding, Somalia, Somali diaspora. The Concepts of Peacebuilding and Multi-track Diplomacy Introduced for the first time by Galtung (1975), peacebuilding progressively became a mainstream concept in the field of peace studies (Heap, 1983; Young, 1987). The document an Agenda for Peace by UN Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali (Boutros-Ghali, 1992) can be considered its official come-of-age.
    [Show full text]
  • Transnational Crimes Among Somali-Americans: Convergences of Radicalization and Trafficking
    The author(s) shown below used Federal funding provided by the U.S. Department of Justice to prepare the following resource: Document Title: Transnational Crimes among Somali- Americans: Convergences of Radicalization and Trafficking Author(s): Stevan Weine, Edna Erez, Chloe Polutnik Document Number: 252135 Date Received: May 2019 Award Number: 2013-ZA-BX-0008 This resource has not been published by the U.S. Department of Justice. This resource is being made publically available through the Office of Justice Programs’ National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Transnational Crimes among Somali-Americans: Convergences of Radicalization and Trafficking Stevan Weine, Edna Erez, and Chloe Polutnik 1 This resource was prepared by the author(s) using Federal funds provided by the U.S. Department of Justice. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. This project was supported by Award No. 2013-ZA-BX-0008, awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice. 2 This resource was prepared by the author(s) using Federal funds provided by the U.S. Department of Justice. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Somalia's Missing Million: the Somali Diaspora and Its Role in Development
    SOMALIA’S MISSING MILLION: THE SOMALI DIASPORA AND ITS ROLE IN DEVELOPMENT MARCH 2009 1 A report for UNDP by Hassan Sheikh and Sally Healy on the Role of the Diaspora in Somali Development. “The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of UNDP.” 2 Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 6 Locating the Somali Diaspora – in Search of the Missing Million ............................... 6 Waves of Migration......................................................................................................... 11 Some Characteristics of the Somali Diaspora .............................................................. 13 Political Engagement ...................................................................................................... 15 Economic Support to Somalia ....................................................................................... 18 Remittances ................................................................................................................... 18 Economic Recovery ...................................................................................................... 20 Humanitarian and Emergency Assistance .................................................................... 23 Development Assistance (Service Delivery) ................................................................ 25 Human Resources ........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Path of Somali Refugees Into Exile Exile Into Refugees Somali of Path the Joëlle Moret, Simone Baglioni, Denise Efionayi-Mäder
    The Path of Somalis have been leaving their country for the last fifteen years, fleeing civil war, difficult economic conditions, drought and famine, and now constitute one of the largest diasporas in the world. Somali Refugees into Exile A Comparative Analysis of Secondary Movements Organized in the framework of collaboration between UNHCR and and Policy Responses different countries, this research focuses on the secondary movements of Somali refugees. It was carried out as a multi-sited project in the following countries: Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Netherlands, Efionayi-Mäder Denise Baglioni, Simone Moret, Joëlle South Africa, Switzerland and Yemen. The report provides a detailed insight into the movements of Somali refugees that is, their trajectories, the different stages in their migra- tion history and their underlying motivations. It also gives a compara- tive overview of different protection regimes and practices. Authors: Joëlle Moret is a social anthropologist and scientific collaborator at the SFM. Simone Baglioni is a political scientist and scientific collaborator at the SFM and at the University Bocconi in Italy. Denise Efionayi-Mäder is a sociologist and co-director of the SFM. ISBN-10: 2-940379-00-9 ISBN-13: 978-2-940379-00-2 The Path of Somali Refugees into Exile Exile into Refugees Somali of Path The Joëlle Moret, Simone Baglioni, Denise Efionayi-Mäder � � SFM Studies 46 SFM Studies 46 Studies SFM � SFM Studies 46 Joëlle Moret Simone Baglioni Denise Efionayi-Mäder The Path of Somali Refugees into Exile A Comparative
    [Show full text]
  • Forced Migration and Forced Return to Somalia: a Critical Review of the Literature
    Bildhaan Vol. 20 Forced Migration and Forced return to Somalia: A Critical review of the Literature Abdinur Sheikh Mohamed Mohamud I. Introduction Since the fall of the Somali state and the exodus of Somalis in and out of the country, researchers and practitioners have begun to write about and look for solutions to the Somali migration problem. The goal of this article is to provide a critical overview of some of the academic and non-academic research on migration within and from Somalia.1 These include research studies, and practitioner reports on both forced migration and return from Somalia, displacement, and encampment inside the country as internally displaced persons (IDPs) or as a refu- gees.2 Many of these studies focus on the migration process, the socio- psychological effects of migrants, and the treatment of refugees and IDPs by managing authorities. Other studies highlight the absence of integration opportunities for both refugees and IDPs3, legal challenges for refugees to make livelihoods outside of the camps, host country policies and politics regarding refugees, the role of INGOs for advo- cacy and provision of services, and the ability of the home country to prepare for and receive returnees.4 114 Abdinur Sheikh Mohamed Mohamud Key word Description Forced migration Involuntary displacements due to conflicts, natural or environ- mental conditions, famine, and other disasters Protracted displacement Repatriation or resettlement needs beyond emergency assis- tance Drivers of migration Conflict, droughts, and environmental changes Remittances Money transfers to families and friends back home Irregular migration Illegal migration and entry into or exit from the state of origin, transit, or destination Repatriation Voluntary return with safety and dignity Durable solution When the displaced no longer need assistance or protection II.
    [Show full text]
  • Djibouti: Z Z Z Z Summary Points Z Z Z Z Renewal Ofdomesticpoliticallegitimacy
    briefing paper page 1 Djibouti: Changing Influence in the Horn’s Strategic Hub David Styan Africa Programme | April 2013 | AFP BP 2013/01 Summary points zz Change in Djibouti’s economic and strategic options has been driven by four factors: the Ethiopian–Eritrean war of 1998–2000, the impact of Ethiopia’s economic transformation and growth upon trade; shifts in US strategy since 9/11, and the upsurge in piracy along the Gulf of Aden and Somali coasts. zz With the expansion of the US AFRICOM base, the reconfiguration of France’s military presence and the establishment of Japanese and other military facilities, Djibouti has become an international maritime and military laboratory where new forms of cooperation are being developed. zz Djibouti has accelerated plans for regional economic integration. Building on close ties with Ethiopia, existing port upgrades and electricity grid integration will be enhanced by the development of the northern port of Tadjourah. zz These strategic and economic shifts have yet to be matched by internal political reforms, and growth needs to be linked to strategies for job creation and a renewal of domestic political legitimacy. www.chathamhouse.org Djibouti: Changing Influence in the Horn’s Strategic Hub page 2 Djibouti 0 25 50 km 0 10 20 30 mi Red Sea National capital District capital Ras Doumeira Town, village B Airport, airstrip a b Wadis ERITREA a l- M International boundary a n d District boundary a b Main road Railway Moussa Ali ETHIOPIA OBOCK N11 N11 To Elidar Balho Obock N14 TADJOURA N11 N14 Gulf of Aden Tadjoura N9 Galafi Lac Assal Golfe de Tadjoura N1 N9 N9 Doraleh DJIBOUTI N1 Ghoubbet Arta N9 El Kharab DJIBOUTI N9 N1 DIKHIL N5 N1 N1 ALI SABIEH N5 N5 Abhe Bad N1 (Lac Abhe) Ali Sabieh DJIBOUTI Dikhil N5 To Dire Dawa SOMALIA/ ETHIOPIA SOMALILAND Source: United Nations Department of Field Support, Cartographic Section, Djibouti Map No.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of the Diaspora in the Civil Society Development of Somalia/Somaliland: Reflections on the Finland-Based Somali Diaspora Päivi Pirkkalainen
    JOURNAL FÜR ENTWICKLUNGSPOLITIK vol. XXXI 1–2015 CIVIL SOCIETY, COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT Schwerpunktredaktion: Tiina Kontinen, Henning Melber Herausgegeben von: Mattersburger Kreis für Entwicklungspolitik an den österreichischen Universitäten Inhalt 4 Civil Society, Cooperation and Development Tiina Kontinen, Henning Melber 13 Civil Society in Sub-Saharan African Post-Conflict States: A Western Induced Idea(l)? Simone Datzberger 30 Civil Society Under Different Political and Aid Regimes in Nicaragua Axel Borchgrevink 48 NGOs, Aid Withdrawal and Exit Strategies Rachel Hayman 65 Ethical, Managerial and Methodological Perspectives in Knowledge Creation in Two Finnish Civil Society Organisations Tiina Kontinen, Hisayo Katsui 83 The Role of the Diaspora in the Civil Society Development of Somalia/Somaliland: Reflections on the Finland-based Somali Diaspora Päivi Pirkkalainen 100 Caught in the Funding Game: The Challenges of NGO Research within Development Aid Sirpa Rovaniemi 117 Book Review 119 Editors and Authors of the Special Issue 123 Impressum Journal für Entwicklungspolitik XXXI 1-2015, S. 83–99 The Role of the Diaspora in the Civil Society Development of Somalia/Somaliland: Reflections on the Finland-based Somali Diaspora PÄIVI PIRKKALAINEN 1. Introduction Since the early 1990s and the end of the Cold War, civil society has been perceived as relevant for strengthening development and democracy (Lewis 2002: 569). It became a much used concept in development cooperation, linked to the discourse of ‘good governance’, in the hope of progressing democratisation and as an answer to poverty and marginalisation (Lewis 2002; Salamon/Sokolowski 2004). Recently, the idea of strengthening civil society as a path to sustainable democratic development has coincided with the discussion of migrants being potential agents of development in their countries of origin; this is a discourse articulated both in academia and in international and regional organisations such as the United Nations, the European Union and the African Union.
    [Show full text]
  • Connected Lives: Somalis in Minneapolis, Family Responsibilities and the Migration Dreams of Relatives
    NEW ISSUES IN REFUGEE RESEARCH Research Paper No. 124 Connected lives: Somalis in Minneapolis, family responsibilities and the migration dreams of relatives Cindy Horst International Peace Research Institute, Oslo Norway E-mail : [email protected] July 2006 Policy Development and Evaluation Service Policy Development and Evaluation Service United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees CP 2500, 1211 Geneva 2 Switzerland E-mail: [email protected] Web Site: www.unhcr.org These papers provide a means for UNHCR staff, consultants, interns and associates as well as external researchers to publish the results of their research on refugee-related issues. The papers do not represent the official views of UNHCR. They are also available online under ‘publications’ at <www.unhcr.org>. ISSN 1020-7473 Introduction Somalis have migrated and dispersed globally for centuries, but especially since the civil war, they can be found in almost every country. A lot of research has been done on Somalis across the world, focusing on stayees, Internally Displaced People (IDPs), returnees, urban refugees, refugees in regional camps and resettled refugees. Yet there are many connections between the lives and livelihoods of these people in different positions. As such, a more integrated approach that studies their connectedness from the point of view of Somalis in different places is vital; both for an increased understanding of their situation as well as in order to improve the policies that affect their lives. Research has shown how transnational networks and flows of remittances, goods and information are essential for the livelihoods of Somalis in the Dadaab refugee camps of Kenya (Horst 2003).
    [Show full text]
  • Building Resilience to Violent Extremism Among Somali‐Americans in Minneapolis‐St
    Building Resilience to Violent Extremism Among Somali‐Americans in Minneapolis‐St. Paul August 2012 National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism A Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Center of Excellence Based at the University of Maryland 3300 Symons Hall • College Park, MD 20742 • 301.405.6600 • www.start.umd.edu National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism A Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Center of Excellence About This Report The authors of this report are Stevan Weine, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Osman Ahmed of Minneapolis‐St. Paul. Questions about this report should be directed to Stevan Weine at [email protected]. This report is part of a series sponsored by the Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences Division, Science and Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in support of the Prevent/Deter program. The goal of this program is to sponsor research that will aid the intelligence and law enforcement communities in identifying potential terrorist threats and support policymakers in developing prevention efforts. This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences Division (HFD) through Grant Award Number 2009ST108LR0003 made to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the United States Government or START.
    [Show full text]
  • Visible and Invisible Diasporas: Ethiopian Somalis in the Diaspora Scene*
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by DigitalCommons@Macalester College Visible and Invisible Diasporas: Ethiopian Somalis in the Diaspora Scene* Daniel K. Thompson I. Introduction In this article I seek to locate — in space and time, and in Somali diaspora studies — that group within the ethnic Somali diaspora that identifies its “homeland” as the eastern part of Ethiopia, which in 1995 became Somali Regional State under Ethiopia’s federal constitution. “Ethiopian Somali” remains for many Somalis a contested identifier, and yet as Hagmann and Khalif argue, the “invention” of such an iden- tity “bears symbolic significance, as it had hitherto been regarded as something out of the question.”1 “Ethiopian” seems, for many Somalis as well as in much of general public consciousness in the West, primar- ily a reference to highland Amhara, Tigrayan, and related populations. In numerous studies of populations from the broader Horn of Africa now living abroad, the dichotomy has tended to reinscribe Somali and Ethiopian groups as separable, under the assumption that Somalis are from Somalia and that Ethiopian “ethnicity” is defined by the highland groups known as Habesha (or Abyssinian). To distinguish ethnicity from nationality, I will use the term “Somalian” to denote nationals of the Somali Republic. More generally, such approaches tend to treat diasporas (and ethnic groups) as always-already-existing communi- ties. An approach to diaspora as a category of identification that can be defined
    [Show full text]
  • Assessing Turkey's Role in Somalia
    Policy Briefing Africa Briefing N°92 Nairobi/Istanbul/Brussels, 8 October 2012 Assessing Turkey’s Role in Somalia clear political understandings they had with Ankara (such I. OVERVIEW as the traditional elders’ planned trip to Istanbul to partic- ipate in the civil society gathering) and openly criticised Turkey is the newest country to intervene in Somalia and and confronted their host on seemingly benign issues. Tur- its involvement has produced some positive results. Prime key overcame these unexpected impediments because of Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s courageous visit to diplomatic insights gained from its on-the-ground pres- Mogadishu in August 2011 at the height of the famine ence and support from international partners. It should and his decision to open an embassy gave fresh impetus use its new experience to build consensus and improve to efforts to establish lasting peace. Widespread Somali external coordination if its intervention is to be effective. gratitude for Turkish humanitarian endeavours and the country’s status as a Muslim and democratic state estab- As a new Somali government is established, Turkey is lished Turkey as a welcome partner. Ankara has signalled expected to, and can, play an important role in helping sta- it is in for the long haul. However, it must tread prudently, bilise and develop the war-ravaged country. In order to play eschew unilateralism and learn lessons to avoid another a major and sustained role in Somalia, Ankara should: failed international intervention. Over twenty years, many lay out a public, clear and realistic long-term strategy states and entities have tried to bring relief and secure for its Somalia policy, backed by secure funding and peace in Somalia, often leaving behind a situation messier an increase in the number of specialists in both Moga- than that which they found.
    [Show full text]