Thursday, August 4, 2011

The alienated lot of the Somali diaspora

Burhan Hassan has become a household name among the Somali community. Popularly known as Little Bashir, the 17-year-old was a bright student who grew up in Minnesota. He combined faith and academics by memorising the Quran and aspired to join top colleges in America.

That was before he strangely disappeared, was reported to have been recruited by extremist groups in Somalia, and was then killed mysteriously in Somalia. What ultimately looked like a shining star had overnight gone down the drain – a young man’s life and family shattered forever.

There is much talk about young people in the realm of today’s changing world. From the 26-year-old street vendor who set himself on fire in Tunisia to those who stood in Tahrir Square in Egypt, and from the bloody protests in Syria to those demonstrating in Yemen, the youth are at the centre of socio-political and economic change the world over.

However, there is fear now that young Somalis, like Burhan, who have had the benefit of education and healthcare far away from a troubled homeland, are now more of a liability than help to Somalia. Dozens of Somali youngsters are believed to have left their new-found homes in Europe, America and Australia, and trooped back home to fight alongside the al-Shabaab.

“I think those who are doing this are a tiny minority of the Somali youth,” says Mukhtar Ibrahim, a graduate of the University of Minnesota’s School of Journalism, who has written for the Minnesota Public Radio on Somali youth. “Unfortunately,” he adds, “the bad apples always dominate the news headlines and overshadow those who are striving to do many good things in their community.”

And the bad apples seem to be catching up very fast. From Minneapolis to Melbourne and from London to Las Qorey, governments and intelligence officers are on the lookout for young Somalis holding foreign passports who are involved in suspicious activities.

Suicide bomber

In July, 26-year-old Omar Mohamed pleaded guilty to raising money to send young men to fight in Somalia, when Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia in 2007 in order to oust the Islamic Courts Union, which dominated the south-central region for over 6 months. Mohamed became the sixth suspect to do so.

Besides, as incongruous as it might sound, in the history of independent America, a Somali American, Shirwa Ahmed, was labelled as the first US citizen to undertake a suicide bombing in October 2008.

Source: The Africa Review

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