OPINION | We long for peace in Somalia

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Lack of peace has affected the lives of my family and friends. My friend and colleague Adar Kahin had tears in her eyes when I asked about the civil war in Somalia. She described a time before the war when she “was young and famous;” in her perspective the world was the perfect world to live in. When the war began in Somalia, her world was turned upside down, with a separation from friends and family. It was the most obvious manifestation of a lack of peace for her. Continue Reading

UPDATE | Minneapolis men face deportation to Somalia they had escaped as children

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UPDATE 2/16/2013 Both commenters and ICE spokesperson Shawn Neudauer have objected strongly to this article on the basis that it did not delve deeply into the criminal records of the two individual cases. That’s true. It did not. The focus of this article was on the impact of deportations on the families and friends, the uncertainty of when and how such deportations happen, and fears about return to a country still at war.No claim was made that either man was unjustly convicted or illegally deported. As the article states:It’s a normal and legal procedure for the United States to expel immigrants who ware convicted of crimes, even if they’re lawful permanent residents. Continue Reading

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud delivers message to Minnesota Somalis

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With songs of hope and peace filling the auditorium and waves of Somali’s blue-and-white flag reaching as far as the eye could see, thousands of Minnesota Somalis assembled January 18 at the Minneapolis Convention Center to meet Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.In an hour-long speech, Mohamud spoke to a crowd of about 4,000 of his plans to rebuild Somalia and urged the Somalis at home and abroad to forgive one another, despite the two decades of clan-based war within in their home country.“Don’t we want to see a stable and united Somalia?” Mohamud asked the cheering crowd. “There is a price to pay in order to get that good Somalia: forgiveness, patience and love. These will create a beautiful Somalia that we all envision.”Mohamud’s visit to Minneapolis came a day after he met with President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the White House — an act underlining the United States’ official recognition of the Somali government for the first time since 1991.Somalia has been without a central government for more than two decades.Even though the Somali nation and its people have lost so much over the years, there is still something to be proud of: Minnesota Somalis, Mohamud said.“Your education and experience to make Somalia like Minnesota is a great asset to our country,” he said speaking in Somali. “Your achievements [in Minnesota] are one of the reasons we should forget about our past problems.”Minnesota is home to an estimated 70,000 Somali-Americans, the largest Somali population in the United States.Mohamud praised the Somali community for their positive contributions to the U.S. and to Somalia.“The renewed diplomacy between the United States and Somali was possible because of the rights and the strong voices you have here,” Mohamud said of the Minnesota Somali community. “Somali-Americans played a big role in the renewed friendship of the two countries. Continue Reading

Somalia to Minnesota: Jailed in Malta

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The voyage on the Russian ship ended Elmi’s three-month journey at the shores of Malta, where the Maltese authorities took him to a detention center. The law of the country mandates that people without the “right of entry” be detained. Every year, an average of 1,470 migrants, who arrive by boat, are detained by the officials, the Human Rights Watch study stated.

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Somalia to Minnesota: Arrested in Sudan

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Abdullahi Elmi was smuggled again from Shagarab camp to Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan. In Khartoum, he found a university student who made his living as a smuggler. The man collected money from Elmi and dozens of other migrants from Somalia, West Africa, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, all in search of a better life in Europe. The smuggler gave the migrants a room, with a plan to travel at night for Libya.This is part two of a three-part series describing Abdullah Elmi’s perilous journey from Somalia to Minnesota. Read Part One, Perilous Journey, here, and the concluding article, From Malta to Minnesota, here.There are many smugglers in Khartoum, Elmi said, and they don’t like one another. Continue Reading

A conversation with acclaimed Somali author and visiting professor Nurrudin Farah

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Acclaimed writer Nurrudin Farah is finishing a three year stint at the University of Minnesota with a staged reading of his play, “A Stone Thrown At The Guilty” at Rarig Center at 7:30 pm this coming Friday and Saturday night. In addition to winning many literary awards, Farah is a regular contributor to the New Yorker and the Op-Ed pages of the New York Times and Washington Post. He was featured on KFAI’s Morning Blend and Minneculture in conversation with Zuhur Ahmed, the former host of the KFAI program “Somali Community Link.” [Audio below]

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Twin Cities Somali leaders offer advice to young Somali-Minnesotans

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Writer’s note: Huge waves of Somali immigrants escaping the two-decade-old civil war flocked to Minnesota, making the Twin Cities a centerpiece for hundreds of thousands diasporic communities scattered throughout the United States and Canada.The growing Somali-American businesses, emerging leaders and professionals, and dozens of community and Islamic centers in the Minneapolis and St. Paul have punctuated the success stories of Somali-Americans in Minnesota over the past 15 years.But it’s also undeniable that some Somali-Minnesotans have shown the state a dark side of gang violence, sex trafficking and terrorism cases, which community members say have tarnished their reputation.The community’s young people, age 18 to 27 years old, reportedly have committed most of these crimes.I spoke with Sheikh Ahmed Burale, imam of Masjid Omar mosque in Minneapolis, and Somali Action Alliance Executive Director Hashi Shafi about advice they would offer young Somalis in Minnesota.The following is a translation of our conversation.On EducationAhmed Burale: Seek knowledge of your Islamic religion. If you have the right understanding of your religion, then you have all the basics of life. Once you acquire your religious knowledge, the worldly education gets easier for you. It teaches you how to respect yourself and others, how to be kind and compassionate. Continue Reading