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Somalis in Camden: challenges faced by an emerging community A report by Saber Khan (Ethnic Focus Research) and Adrian Jones CONTENTS TABLE OF FIGURES 5 INTRODUCTION 6 LITERATURE REVIEW 8 HOUSEHOLD 14 LANGUAGE 17 CLASS AND RELIGION 19 EDUCATION 21 EMPLOYMENT 26 HEALTH 31 HOUSING 38 LEISURE 44 SOCIAL SERVICES 46 ENVIRONMENT 48 CONCLUSIONS 57 APPENDIX ONE - METHODOLOGY 61 3 TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1 - Approx. year of arrival in England 14 Figure 2 - Parents currently living in England 15 Figure 3 - Parents living in England by time of arrival 15 Figure 4 - Marital status 16 Figure 5 - Marital status by gender 16 Figure 6 - Ability to speak English 17 Figure 7 - Ability to speak English by age 18 Figure 8 - Ability to speak English by gender 18 Figure 9 - Importance of religion by gender 19 Figure 10 - Importance of religion by age 20 Figure 11 - Highest level of education 23 Figure 12 - Importance of education 24 Figure 13 - Importance of education by gender 25 Figure 14 - Occupation / Employment status 27 Figure 15 - Claiming any state benefits 28 Figure 16 - Claiming any state benefits by gender 28 Figure 17 - Long-standing illness in the family 35 Figure 18 - Problems encountered in visiting doctor 36 Figure 19 - No. of people in household 39 Figure 20 - No. of rooms in household 40 Figure 21 - House description 40 Figure 22 - Quality of service from landlord 41 Figure 23 - Frequency of contact with housing provider 41 Figure 24 - Biggest housing problems 42 Figure 25 - Biggest problem in the Somali community (1st choice) 49 Figure 26 - Contact with Camden Council for problems, information, advice 52 Figure 27 - Contact with Camden Council for problems etc, by gender 53 Figure 28 - Contact with Camden Council for problems etc, by age 53 Figure 29 - Contact with Camden Council for problems etc, by ability to speak English 54 Figure 30 - Department contacted in Camden Council in the last year 54 Figure 31 - Ability to communicate problems to Camden Council 55 Figure 32 - Ability of Camden Council to understand problems 56 5 Introduction Late in 2002, the multi-agency Refugee Forum in the London Borough of Camden agreed to commission a major piece of research focused on Camden’s Somali community, the borough’s largest refugee population. The local authority’s Equalities Unit took lead responsibility for this work, having previously been involved in research projects looking at other Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities in Camden. Earlier reports had been produced in 1996 (the Bangladeshi community) and 1999 (the Chinese community), based on literature reviews and quantitative surveys. There is a paucity of existing research regarding the size, distribution and needs of Somalis in London. The BBC’s “Your London” website has estimated that there are around 70,000 Somalis living in the capital, with the largest group of some 10,000 people located in Tower Hamlets. As the site notes: This is thought to be the oldest African community in London. Whilst a lot of Somalis came to London as asylum seekers, fleeing civil unrest in their country, many are second, third and even fourth generation Somalis [in Britain]. There are records of Somalis in London dating back to 1914, when they were recruited to fight in the First World War and then settled in the capital. This first group was followed by a continuous trickle, many of whom came over as merchant seamen... Accounts of the time show that many of these seamen only planned to stay in London long enough to make some money before returning to their families... Because they always intended to go back to Africa, many of the first Somalis in London didn’t learn English, and they have been slower to establish a formal community here than many other ethnic groups. Other factors particularly relevant to the Somali community in Britain include: i The influence and strength of the “clan” system in the Somali community ii Somalia’s relative “youth” as a nation state (formed in 1960, from a former British protectorate and an Italian colony) iii The emergence of a written Somali language only within the last 35 years iv The impact of the civil war that began in 1991, leading directly to the dramatic growth of the Somali community in the United Kingdom. Whilst no accurate data exists, it is widely believed by both community groups and service providers that the vast majority of Camden’s Somali community have only been resident in the borough since 1990 (with little prior settlement). In general, it is believed that 90%-95% of the community came to the UK from 1990 onwards. At least two-thirds of those interviewed for the main quantitative aspect of this research had arrived in Britain since the early 1990s. Other Black African communities (e.g. Ghanaians and Nigerians) are seen as longer established and without the language problems faced by the Somalis. While the two communities covered by previous Equalities Unit reports exist as discrete Census categories, this has not been the case with the Somali community which is subsumed under the “Black 1 or Black British - African” category. A recent report by researchers at Sheffield Hallam University has noted that: 6 There is no official estimate of the size of the Somali population in Britain. The closest monitoring category - Black African - is too broad to provide useful information. The Somali community itself estimates its size at about 95,000 people [nationally]... Most attempts to classify Somalis fail to take account of their distinct position as the interface of two very different cultures. Subsumed within the category ‘Black African’ Somalis do not share any culture, language, diet, dress and religious practices with their near neighbours. As Muslims, Somalis worship at mosques alongside co-religionists from Asian and Arab countries but they do not share other aspects of culture, language, diet or dress with these groups. The lack of sensitivity in monitoring categories has frequently resulted in the Somali community’s - often desperate - needs being overlooked. 2 While several researchers have cast doubt on the accuracy of Census figures , there are, at least, some hard figures available. This has not been the case with the Somali community due to the previously noted absence of a separate “Somali” category, though the information provided by the “country of origin” question on the most recent Census is helpful. The Census 2001 data suggests that more than 1,900 Camden residents had been born in Somalia. Despite this evidence, it remains extremely difficult to accurately estimate the size of Camden’s Somali population, although it is widely thought to be the second largest (non-white) minority ethnic community in the borough after the Bangladeshi population (estimates of the number of Somali community now exceed 4,000). The community is seen as spatially concentrated in Kentish Town (Gospel Oak, Caversham and Castlehaven wards), Kilburn, Camden Town and King’s Cross / St Pancras. In short, the community is generally seen as dispersed across less affluent parts of the borough. This report seeks to provide a more accurate picture of Camden’s Somali community in terms of its structure, its experiences and its needs. It is broken down into a number of distinct sections, mirroring the key topics covered in the research. Direct quotes from participants in the research interviews and focus groups are highlighted in bold. Many comments are subjective and frequently reflect perceptions - albeit deeply held ones - rather than documented facts. A section detailing conclusions and making a number of recommendations concludes the report. 1 Holman, C. and Holman, N., (April 2003), “First steps in a new country: baseline indicators for the Somali community in the London Borough of Hackney” 2 Adrian Jones’s research regarding Britain’s ethnic Chinese community (“The Invisible Minority”, May 1998), for example, highlighted the negative impact of the language barrier and widespread distrust of bureaucracy on Census completion rates. 7 Literature Review As noted in the introduction, there appears to be little published research regarding Somalis in the United Kingdom in general. This is, perhaps, not surprising in Camden, given the comparative “newness” of the community, though it does not explain the absence of published material in areas with longer-established Somali communities (such as Cardiff and Liverpool). Research on Somalis in London has previously been largely restricted to Tower Hamlets (the borough with London’s oldest Somali community), although more recent work has been conducted in Hackney and in both Newham and Lewisham. Research carried out in Camden that has included Somali groups has consisted largely of qualitative 3 studies. For example, MORI carried out work for Camden Leisure and Community Services, which included two Somali focus groups. This study found that: The Somali community is a distinct and separate ethnic group, strongly identifying with its cultural traditions and religion. The community feels that many of the leisure facilities and activities on offer are not culturally specific or appropriate - therefore take-up is low [n.b. this would appear particularly to be the case for women] Leisure and Community Services The MORI research highlighted the following recommendations regarding the Somali community in Camden: i There is a need to increase the take-up by Somalis of leisure and community pursuits, through a confidence-building exercise reaching out to the community in order to raise people’s expectations of the services on offer - using outreach programmes and “community champions” ii Community specific activities should be introduced iii There is a need for a specific community centre, which could act as a base for other activities for the community iv There needs to be a communications initiative that raises awareness of what services and facilities are on offer.

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