Spine-chilling tale of Somali refugees in the world

Displacement, hunger, hostility, discrimination, rape and death in the high seas haunt the refugees as they flee from turmoil that has shattered stability in their motherland for decades

The tale of Somali refugees globally is one of the saddest in the human rights arena, and it is also as intriguing and embarrassing as it is disconcerting.

The harrowing story of the excruciating pain and suffering Somali refugees usually undergo while fleeing to safety from their strife-torn Horn of Africa nation, is so mind-boggling that one cannot listen to it with his or her mouth shut.

Thousands of Somalis have been uprooted from their motherland, owing to unavoidable political circumstances.

They have been thrown overboard from the mainstream like rays of light forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by one or more paths, due to localized non-uniformity in the medium through which they pass.

Scattered

SOMALI refugees are scattered all over the world. Yes, all over the world.

Right from New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, China, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Arab Gulf States, Syria, Lebanon, Jerusalem, Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Comoros Islands, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Senegal, Western Europe, particularly Italy, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Canada, USA, Yemen, and, yes, the Djibouti.

Presently, the major countries that host Somali refugees are Kenya, Yemen, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Arabian Gulf States (not signatory of the UN Refugee Geneva Convention of July 1951), Sudan, Libya, Ethiopia, and Egypt (where they were mistreated on their way to Israel.)

Other major countries that host the refugees are Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, UK, Ireland, France, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Malta, Cyprus, Russia, China and etcetera.

The Somali refugee crisis cropped up from the day Somalia joined the club of the Eastern bloc during the cold war in the early 70´s.

In those early days of the 70´s, it was individuals or small groups who were crossing the Somalia boundaries with Ethiopia, Kenya and Affar and Issa French colonies, and across the Gulf of Aden on the way to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Sultan of Oman.

These refugees mostly settled in the oil-rich countries of the Gulf States which are not signatory to the Geneva Refugee Convention of 1951.

In Egypt, those working in the Gulf States were making it possible for their families to let their children go to school in Egypt.

Egypt was a signatory to the Convention of Refugees, but during the Jamal Abdi Nasir era, the North African country suspended its membership and became signatory to the convention during the Anwar Sadat era.

Somalis who were in the Gulf States had made reasonable earnings during the petrol-booming business of the Gulf States, but were not entitled for pension, and their children who were born in the Gulf states after 18 years, were forced either to have a separate residence (which means they must be sponsored by somebody with a business if they had to leave the country), or their parents; the requirement was that if they lost their jobs, they had to leave the country no matter how long they had suffered or stayed.

Those who were in the Gulf States mostly sought refugee status in Western European countries and North America.

The second wave of the Somali refugees resurfaced in the early 80´s when the coup d´etat in April 9, 1978, staged by Abdulahi Yusuf (former Somalia President) aborted, and simultaneously, the Siad Barre-led regime embarked on the unpopular mission of detaining, arresting and torturing clan members of Abdulahi Yusuf.

Subsequently, other clans established opposition movements stationed at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Failed coup

After the abortive coup d´etat and establishment of the clan movements, thousands of refugees crossed the Somali boundaries with Ethiopia and the Djibouti, particularly when the Somalia National Movement (SNM) fought with the regime of Siad Barre in the North West of Somalia (presently the so-called "Somali land").

Some of these refugees in Ethiopia were given re-settlement in Western Europe and North America, while the majority were repatriated back to "Somali land" by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR).

Most of the Somali refugees were generated during the civil war that started from 1988 in which hundreds of people of varying ages, died in the seas on their way to Mombasa, while families who were separated in their thousands crossed the Somali/Kenyan border (in a mass of disenfranchised humanity), flocking into camps in North East of Kenya where they are living at present.

This was made possible by the UNHCR with the approval of the Kenya government.

Some of the refugees received support from their relatives in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, while others got re-settlement in these countries through the request of UNHCR.

Investigations reveal that when the refugees flocked to Kenya, some of them moved to the Sudan, Zaire, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania, ending up in South Africa.

The Arabian Gulf States

Somalia depends on its trade with the Gulf States for the importation of over 200 million dollars worth of goods mainly from the United Arab Emirates, Dubai being the focal point of this trade.

Despite the absence of banking and insurance systems in Somalia, the Somalis normally transfer their money through the Somalis exchange bureaus, or by cash during the process of selling and buying.

The Arabian Gulf Sates export from Somalia live livestock and small slaughtered goats

The Gulf States hardly allow the Somalis to acquire citizenship.

Somalis who enter the Gulf States illegally risk deportation or detention, if caught by law enforcement agencies.

The Saudi authorities deported many Somalis who had their residences cancelled, or who had entered Saudi Arabia illegally.

Egypt

Egypt is a signatory to the Geneva Convention of Refugees. There is an office for UNHCR that gives protection and assistance of food, shelter, education for children and sometimes allows the qualified refugees to have access to post-secondary education and sometimes professional trainings, while the UNHCR applies for re-settlement in Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand, North America and Western Europe.

Egyptian authorities have been accused by human rights groups of shooting African refugees while crossing the Egyptian/Israeli boundary.

It is reported that some Somalis and other African refugees were shot to death in the course of their escape from the Egyptian soil to Israel.

The Somalis, East African nationalities and Ethiopians use small overloaded dhows for their illegal journey to the Gulf States and Yemen through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

In some instances, the owners of these dhows threw the passengers into the sea before reaching the shore, or when they spotted the Yemeni coastal guards.

This often resulted in deaths of women and children while the NATO Navy patrolled these zones.

According to statistics conducted by the office of the Somali Member of Parliament located in Basoso town, Punt land, the death toll of the victims surpassed 10,000- mostly Somalis, Ethiopians, Eritreans, Tanzanians and a few Kenyans.

In Yemen, there are over 200,000 Somali refugees at present.

Most of them are in camps, while professional refugees are allowed to work in the cities and villages.

The jobs available are mostly those for teachers at all levels, doctors, nurses, engineers, accountants and etcetera.

Kenya

Kenya has been receiving Somali refugees for the last 30 years.

During the Siad Barre-led regime, the number of refugees was negligible, and most of them were dissidents.

But after 1991, an exodus of refugee´s crossed the North Eastern boundary of Kenya, while a small number came through the Mombasa Port.

At present, there are hundreds of Somali refugees in the North Eastern refugee camps.

Those coming from Mogadishu to Kenya had to contend with a myriad of difficulties and/or hardships, and some of them died on the way; others got afflicted by diseases and were abandoned in the course of their journey, a situation which exposed them to attack by wild animals.

In the Kenyan camps, UNHCR and the World Food Program (WFP ) were responsible for providing food and shelter as well as medical cover to the refugees.

The refugees complained of poor treatment in their quest for sufficient water for drinking and washing, as well as lack of proper shelter and sanitation.

And since their camps were located in semi-desert areas that experienced hot temperatures during the day and cold ones at night, the refugees underwent agonizing and unbearable situations.

It was reported by international human rights organizations, around 2006 or thereabouts, that the refugees were unduly harassed by the Kenyan police in the camps and while crossing the Somalia/Kenya boundary.

However, the allegations were vehemently denied and dismissed by the police.

The police promised to institute a thorough probe into the complaints leveled by the refugees.

Somalis from Somalia are said to invest in Kenya over 200 million US dollars annually.

The money comes from Somalia businessmen fleeing the fighting in Somalia and the Diaspora who are interested in buying properties or venturing into business in Kenya.

Somalis in the Diaspora are said to remit over 1.5 billion US dollars annually to Somalia, Africa, and the Middle East. This somehow discounts charges that investments made by Somalis in Kenya wholly accrues from sea piracy.

South Africa

In South Africa, Somali refugees usually start their journey from Somalia through Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe then to South Africa, while some of them who are educated and have financial capabilities settle in North America, Europe and the Middle East.

As the Somalis are entrepreneurial and business-minded, they start businesses in the native areas where unemployment and an exceptionally high crime rate is the order of the day.

As their businesses flourish, they hire other Somalis who will later become partners in the trade. But there are side effects to this progress.

Native South Africans tend to be driven by envy, jealousy and hate.

They resort to killing the Somali refugees and torching their business premises.

The antagonism of the South Africans against Somali refuges and other African workers was highlighted by the mass media sometimes back.

Currently, there are 120 Somalis who are on deportation and consigned in detention centers, including three women who delivered while in detention; the 120 Somalis complained of food shortage and lack of medical attention.

It is worth reckoning that the Somalis helped the South Africans during their long struggle against apartheid.

They offered military training to South Africans and granted scholarships to the South African students.

Interestingly, the South Africans resorted to dehumanizing the Somali refugee's. Sad case of the proverbial durry donkey?

Over 1000 Somali refugees were detained in Tanzania in 2006.

Some of them were released in early 2008, and the remaining ones who were set free in 2009, headed back to Somalia through Kenya, while the rest left for South Africa.

In Tanzania, Somali refugees were said to have been detained and harassed by the police before being released.

In Northern Sudan, the Somalis are treated normally and have the right to enroll in Sudanese universities and technical institutes.

There are more than 2,500 Somali students. Those who fail to excell in their studies, usually leave for Libya in order to cross the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Europe.

Some of these students die of hunger and other hardships at the Sahara desert between Libya and Sudan.

In their journey from Libya through the Mediterranean Sea, the Somali refugees usually hire obsolete and overloaded tag boats.

The boats have capsized in the high seas of the Mediterranean and hundreds of the Somali refugees have drowned; this is how hundreds of Somali refugees who include pregnant women, children, old men and the disabled perish in the high seas of the Mediterranean.

At times, they are lucky to be rescued by the Italian Coastal Guards and their navy, or other vessels navigating in the area.

In Southern Sudan, there were reports of Somali women being raped by some officers while consigned in certain areas.

Victims were allegedly subjected to constant sexual assault while being chained to objects to avoid escape.

This sexual abuse has been reported to the Somalia ambassador in Khartoum by Somali girls who manage to slip through the police dragnet.

Angry Somali Members of parliament demanded that the government takes the necessary steps to critically address the plight of the Somali refugees, particularly those suffering in Southern Sudan and South Africa.

In Nepal, there was said to be more than 20 Somali refugees who had been taken there by human traffickers.

The refugees have been holed up in Nepal without basic necessities.

Russia

In Russia, there are over 1,000 Somali refugees facing lack of proper shelter and clothing, a situation which has been made worse by the fact that Russia gets extremely cold during winter season.

Homeless refugees find it very difficult to live in the northern Eurasia country.

In Syria, there are about 3,000 Somali refugees, mostly families from the Gulf States whose residences were terminated.

However, the Syrians have treated them civilly and have allowed their children enrollment in their schools without paying fees, besides giving them medical cover.

Syria is billed as among the best places in the world for the Somali refugees.

In Lebanon,  there were reports that about 200 Somali refugees were living with the hope of being re-settled by the UNHCR to a second country through family re-unification or refugee asylum.

Somali refugees are noticed in nearly over 30 countries in the world.

As the West Monsoon season ended on the first days of September 2009, there was the story of a Somali boat wanting to cross into Yemen and other Gulf States.

But alas, it disembarked, and more than 120 people died in the course of swimming near the coast of Yemen.

Those who were unable to swim- particularly innocent children and women drowned, while some of them were rescued by the Yemeni Coastal Guards.

Still, Somalis have always been on the move in the Sub-Saharan desert on the way to Libya to cross to European countries.

The Italian Government

The Italian government has been accused of violating the Geneva Convention of 1951 for Refugees of which it is signatory to, while Libya is not a member of the Geneva Refugee convention of 1951, nor a signatory to stateless Convention.

This clearly demonstrates that the Italian Government has not respected the International Conventions for Refugees and stateless people.

The Italians have the moral responsibility and legal obligations to safeguard and provide protection to Somali asylum seekers.

In addition, Southern Somalia was colonized by the Italians, and the Somalis inherited the maladministration from them.

And besides, areas where the civil war was flaring and generated most of the refugees are the former Italian colony.

Hence, as the British intervened in Sierra Leone, the Italians were supposed to have done the same.

But fortunately or unfortunately, they did the contrary during the Store Hope Mission in which they objected to the Americans running the mission, and instead supported Somali warlords opposed to this Mission.

The Somali refugees who fled the ugly civil strife in their strife-torn motherland underwent excruciating suffering in the Central and Southern America, in the detention Centers of Panama and Ecuador.

Some of them lived as stateless people in Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Venezuela, Salvador, Columbia, Argentina, Guatemala and etcetera.

The Somalia Refugee plight needs serious addressing globally.

Photographer Abdi Roble

A Somali documentary project on the Somali Diaspora conducted by seasoned photographer Abdi Roble and his team of researchers, held presentations at Weizzman and Museum from June 20 to September 27, 2009.

It was a memorable opportunity of understanding the Somali Diaspora and the movement of the Somali refugees, those who acquired settlement and the difficulties enveloping the refugees during their movements or travels.

The Somali parliament also collected information and data on the plight of Somali refugees.

It called upon the competent ministers to urgently contact UNHCR and other International agencies, as well as governmental organizations engaged in Refugee and stateless people affairs.

The Transitional Federal Government shoulders the responsibility of taking these issues to the individual states, regional and sub-regional organizations to safeguard the dignity and life of Somali refugees.

Human rights groups were also requested to act in cahoots with Somali institutions, in order to provide the necessary information that could contribute to offering a solution to the nagging refugee question in Somalia.

Recommendations to stem the Somali crisis

Somali politicians should discard their political differences and salvage their people and nation from the current human tragedy the Horn of Africa nation is experiencing internally and externally, and opt for reinstatement of the Somali state sovereignty.

There should be an immediate intervention of human rights organizations to investigate the violation of human rights of the Somali refugees in their countries of asylum.

The Libyan government should treat Africans entering their country with a modicum of humanity and formulate a program of re-settlement for them.

The African Union (AU) must clamor for salvation of Africans who are engaged in the crossing of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.