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

esponse to this charge is that the Somali
community keeps very much to itself; that it is not
interested in ‘integrating’ or participating in civil
society. It is true that the first generation of Somali
seamen always set their sights on return to Somalia.
They had not envisaged that events at home would
frustrate their dreams. This voluntary isolation has
contributed to the character of the community,
with its strong sense of family and a common
Muslim identity. The high rate of unemployment,
coupled with problems of language, has also
precluded a common route into the wider society.
But times have changed, and younger generations,
both those escaping violence at home and those
born here, have a different relationship to the UK.
Although often represented in policy documents
as undifferentiated, Somalis do not form a single
group defined by their predicaments. To begin
with, there is the vexed question of the term
‘community’ - implying cohesion, uniformity, and a
common consciousness. In a certain context its use
is justifiable - not only do the majority of Somalis
have a common language and all share an Islamic
faith, but the problems they encounter as refugees,
explored below, are widely shared despite diverse
social characteristics. But if, in this report as in
others, this problematic term is used as convenient
shorthand, it must not obscure the fact that no
ethnic minority - any more than a native population
- is homogenous. The basic divisions are those
in any community, although they will carry their
own cultural load. Despite present unemployment
among Somalis, and the popular perception of
refugees as impoverished economic migrants,
many Somalis come from the educated middle
class who could afford to flee. 7 Somali class is a
fluid concept - households both in Somalia and the
UK often contain uneducated members alongside
professionals who share much of the same lifestyle.
Nevertheless, the experience of a functionally
illiterate old seafarer or a recently arrived youth
with no education is not identical to that of a
university graduate. The implications of gender and
the development of men’s and women’s roles are
explored below, as is generation, which combines
5. Information on Liverpool is taken from sources in footnotes 10 and
11 and from interviews with the Community Resource Unit of Liverpool
City Council; the Lodge Lane Somali Women’s Group; the Liverpool Asylum
Seeker and Refugee Partnership, and the Merseyside Community Centre.
in different patterns with the age of entry into the
UK. The older settler communities, the refugees
from the civil war of the late 1980s and 1990s, and
the most recent arrivals via third countries, all have
particular experiences of both Somalia and the UK.
Some Somalis arrive as adults or elders, some are
born in the UK. Generation and birthplace affect
both the orientation towards the homeland, and
life in the diaspora.
Area of origin in Somalia is another key variable.
A refugee from northern Somaliland will have had a
different background and history from one escaping
from the south. This combines with the factor of
clan affiliation, a form of social identification highly
significant in Somalia and with resonance in the
UK (see below p. 78). Area of residence in the
UK also impacts on the refugee experience. The
density of the Somali presence, the character of the
neighbourhood, the history of the community, and
the availability of services differ between London
boroughs as well as between British cities. Findings
from Tower Hamlets may not be applicable to the
newer communities of Harlesden. Somalis may
also have different immigration statuses which
in turn affect their relationship to state benefits
and employment. Asylum seekers awaiting the
outcome of appeals, or those unsure whether their
limited leave to remain will be extended, live in a
greater state of insecurity than those confirmed as
refugees.
And then there is the individual experience of
war. Unless very young, few Somalis in the UK
have escaped the horrors of armed anarchy, the
repercussions of a collapsing civil society, or the
grief of bereavement and family separation. But
personal stories differ and particular traumas are
carried to the UK, affecting experience of exile. In
a condensed overview of Somalis in the UK, these
nuances may become buried under an essentialised
representation of the community. But it must be
borne in mind that history, personal and collective,
determines both identification and difference for
Somalis in the diaspora.
6. Cf. Stokes, 2000: para. 14.4.
7. Farah (2000) provides an interesting insight into the different exit
strategies of various sections of the middle class, and the comparative
experience of the less fortunate.
The Somali community in the UK
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