Minnesota Somalis to global leaders: Let us help rebuild Somalia

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Is Somalia, the world’s ultimate failed state, on the brink of authentic renewal and reconstruction? Is its bloody, famine-furthering, piracy-producing 20-year-old civil war close to an end?That has been the fierce if fragile hope recently of tens of thousands of Somali refugees living in Minnesota, most of whom last saw their homeland in the period after its last functioning government was toppled in 1991.Hopes in Minnesota’s Somali community, one of the world’s largest Somali diaspora groups, soared especially high last week when top government leaders from 55 countries convened in London on February 23 to seek answers to Somalia’s crises.Hosted by Britain and led by British Prime Minister David Cameron, the London meeting’s goals were to help restore a legitimate and representative Somali government, to end Somali piracy and terrorism, and to ease a continuing Somali famine worsened by the war.Yet today, a week after the conference, many Somali Minnesotans, including hundreds of former Somali civil servants, teachers and professionals, say it fell far short of its stated aims, producing a gale of high-flown rhetoric but virtually no specific plans or programs.Leaked Communique“A lot of people expected drastic changes, but the conference showed the same status quo thinking,” said Sakawdin Mohamed, the executive director of the Eagan-based Somali Institute for Peace Research. “The corrupt officials of the Transitional Federal Government now have huge momentum. The bad people kind of won.”The Somali government officials who attended the London meeting appeared much different to Somali diaspora members who have known them well over the years, than they did to outsiders who did not.“What we saw as Somali citizens was tribal representation,” Sakawdin said. “They were basically representing their own tribes and interests.”The conference was transparently insincere, many Minnesota Somalis say, noting that a draft of its final communique, containing conclusions and recommendations, was leaked days before the conference even started.The conference offered Somalia a welcome moment of global attention, but the moment was short, with the conference lasting a mere five hours. Continue Reading

Shining a light on Somalia

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During his first trip back to Somalia in summer 2010, Mohamed Samatar, 19, of Minneapolis, expected there to be no electricity and to be in a desert.“Everything I had in America was there. The only difference is that the weather in Somalia is nicer,” Samatar said.Shocked by how misinformed he was, Samatar felt compelled to inform the world about what Somalia is really like, and what’s actually going on there.Somalia hasn’t had a stable government since 1991. In July, the United Nations reported that half the country’s population was in crisis because of a famine. There is also ongoing violence between conservative religious factions and the internationally supported government. UN forces recently returned to the capitol city of Mogadishu for the first time in 17 years.“When a person pictures Somalia, they immediately picture pirates and bony children with big, round bellies,” said Samatar, a University of St. Continue Reading

Banks: No money to Somalia until risks reduced

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“This is not fair. It’s not fair to single out one community. The lifeline for so many innocent people depends on the money we send,” said Abdulaziz Sugule, the former chairman of  SAMSA (Somali American Money Service Association) referring to Franklin Bank’s decision to end remittances to Somalia last December 30. “I hope elected officials will come up with a workable solution.”Sugule and many of the nearly 70,000 Somali that live in Minnesota are extremely anxious and worried about how they are going to get money to their families in Somalia. In some cases it is the only money they receive. Continue Reading

Hawala update

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Somali people in Minnesota who send money to east Africa are still concerned that the method they use to transfer funds to family members in Africa will soon shut down. Earlier this month, the Franklin Bank in Minneapolis announced it would stop working with “hawalas” on the fund transfers. The deadline was this week. Franklin Bank is the only local bank currently willing to make these transactions.But Wednesdays deadline passed without incident and the fund transfers are still going on. KFAI’s Eric Blom explains. Continue Reading

Sadik Warfa and Mahamud Noor on recent elections

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In a special election this week in state Senate district 59 in Minneapolis, Kari Dziedzic won the competition between 5 DFL’ers to face a Republican opponent in January. She got 32% of the vote.Just 339 votes behind her was the second place finisher, a Somali immigrant named Mohamud Noor. His strong showing in the election was attributed in part to support he drew from other Somalis living in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. But along the way Noor received endorsements from groups that have no particular Somali connection – groups TakeAction Minnesota, Stonewall DFL and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees.Back in September, in another special DFL primary for a different state Senate vacancy, Sadik Warfa finished second to the eventual winner of the seat – Representative Jeff Hayden. Warfa got 28 percent of the vote in that contest.If either of them had succeeded, they would have become the first Somali elected to the Minnesota legislature. Continue Reading

Hawala connection severed for Minnesota Somalis

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Somali people in Minnesota who send money to east Africa are concerned that the method they use to transfer funds will soon shut down. If Franklin Bank in the Twin Cities follows through on a plan to stop working with Somali wire transfer services called “hawalas”, Minnesota Somalis will have to find another way to offer financial support to family and friends in a country that is experiencing a crushing famine.The Franklin Bank is the only local bank that is currently willing to make these transactions, but bank officials recently said they are uneasy with the bank’s level of vulnerability, and have decided to stop offering the service on December 14th.Hashi Shafi is the director of the Somali Action Alliance. He’s been talking with officials of the Franklin Bank and people in the Somali community, trying to find a solution to this problem. He talked with KFAI’s Dale Connelly about the importance of having a bank involved when sending money to a country that has had no functioning government for the past 20 years. [Audio below]Hawala Connection Severed Continue Reading

Somalia update

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With the Thanksgiving holiday, Americans who are economically prosperous give thanks for good fortune, family and sufficient food. But in east Africa, famine is taking lives every day in vast refugee camps and in Somalia’s capital city of Mogadishu – all while a militant group called Al Shabab interferes with aid efforts and international relief agencies struggle to provide assistance in some of the hardest hit areas.One local group that has strong ties to Somalia and is actively providing aid in the country is “Neighbors for Nations”, a program of the American Refugee Committee. Program manager Said Sheik-Abdi spoke with Bob Hines and Michelle Alimoradi. [Audio below] Continue Reading

FREE SPEECH ZONE | Tribute: Melissa Krull, embattled School Superintendent

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Recently retired Eden Prairie Schools Superintendent Melissa Krull was honored by scores of parents and professional colleagues on Saturday October 15th for her support of educational equity and integration. A small band of vocal parents — The Braxton Bullies — have opposed the EP School district’s re-alignment of grade school districts and other reforms. Some of them have been caustic, mean and anonymous in local newspapers; facebook presentations like “The Eden Prairie School Board Accountability” and bloggers like “The Activist Next Door.”But Dr. Krull remains highly admired by a large majority of residents including Eden Prairie’s large Somali Community.Free Speech ZoneThe Free Speech Zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the TC Daily Planet. This is an open forum for articles that otherwise might not find a place for publication, including news articles, opinion columns, announcements and even a few press releases. Continue Reading