The Somali community in the UK: What we know and how we ... - ICAR

to the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia,
Holland, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland,
Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Luxembourg,
and Austria, besides Zambia and Tanzania. Families
have been torn apart by the war - Somalis in the
UK worry about relatives still living in the refugee
camps of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, and Yemen, and
often mention their desire to bring them to the
UK. Those with rights of residence (see below
p.30) apply for family reunion through which
they are entitled to bring spouses and children
under eighteen into the UK. Older children and
elderly parents are only allowed into the UK
on a discretionary basis, but relations seek to
rejoin their families. The characteristics of Somali
immigration are therefore changing. Although, like
the previous phase, the inflow is mainly composed
of women and children, it is largely drawn from the
wider diaspora rather than from those escaping
Somalia itself.
The reasons for seeking to leave the previous
country of exile for the UK are not altogether
clear. The impression given by sections of the
British media is that refugees are attracted by
the welfare benefits in ‘soft touch’ Britain. But
anecdotal evidence from some of those who
have come from Holland, Sweden, and Norway
suggests that living standards there are better than
in the UK. In Finland, for example, according to
someone who lived there for ten years, housing is
far superior. 28 A major draw is the desire to join
both kin and fellow countrymen and women. Not
only do Somalis suffer keenly from the cold in
some northern European climates, but also from a
chilly reception by the native population. Countries
such as the Scandinavian states, lying outside the
historical nexus of slavery and imperialism, have
little experience of black immigration, and it is
claimed that racism is rife. The UK hosts the largest
Somali community outside Somalia, and the UK is
described by Somalis as a ‘meeting point’, a ‘more
intercultural society’ than many of the states
Somalis leave behind. The UK also has a reputation
for religious tolerance. Struggling with immigration
issues, many also prefer the anonymity of a big city
rather than the stringent surveillance said to be
exercised in parts of Europe.
Another factor is the English language. A
contemporary diaspora can remain in close contact
through modern means of communication, but
for this a common language is necessary - one
young man went to meet newly-arrived relatives in
Leicester, and found that they only spoke Finnish!
While the older generations hold onto Somali,
young people born abroad may not have the same
command. English, already familiar to those from
northern Somalia because of colonial history,
becomes a second tongue. Parents are keen that
their children benefit from a British education.
But apart from the particular attractions of the
UK, geographical movement must be seen in the
context of globalisation. As the Somali diaspora
spreads and becomes increasingly mobile, so do the
entrepreneurial connections it forges. Somalis have
always travelled to trade - the UK is now a centre
for Somali commercial enterprise, for business
that is both local and which crosses international
boundaries.
28. Interview Abdulkadir Diesow, the Birmingham Support Group of
Somali EU Citizens, Asylum Seekers and Refugees, 08.04.03
29. Griffiths (2002), Somali and Kurdish refugees in London: New
identities in the diaspora, Aldershot: Ashgate: 81-82.
30. FCO Travel Advice, available online from: http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/
Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=100702
9390590 [accessed 16 March 2004].
31. http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/o_c_ref.htm.
32. http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/o_p_ref.htm.
33.The official title is the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights
24 The Somali community in the UK