Being Somali in the UK

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Adrift in the UK
Thousands of Somalis have come to Britain to seek a better life. The government is doing too little to help them integrate


Jeremy Sare
guardian.co.uk
Thursday June 5 2008

What does it feel like to lose your country? We read almost daily of the mayhem and spiralling violence in Somalia. But what of Somalis living in Britain? There are perhaps 250,000 British Somalis and asylum seekers living in London, Liverpool, Cardiff and Bristol and elsewhere, but they are almost an invisible minority. Despite the immense harm caused by this continuing social dislocation, little is being done by government to overcome it.

The social exclusion of British Somalis is unparalleled and mirrors the isolation of Somalia itself. Unemployment is high and educational attainment is the lowest among ethnic minority groups. Culturally the Somalis are barely noticeable; there are very few festivals, little radio and only a handful of Somali restaurants.

The reasons for the lack of culture and social participation of Somalis in 21st century Britain is, at least in part, subliminal. When any group emigrates in adversity, it holds on to cheering images of the old country. However, such is the extreme physical and structural devastation of Somalia, that the memories and longing are for a place which, effectively, no longer exists. This underlying psychological sense of loss, compounded by the traumatic experiences of war, has resulted in a collective withdrawal from active society.

Ministers have referred ad nauseam to making a priority of social cohesion and countering any emerging extremism in Muslim communities. However, the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) admits it ran "no specific programmes for the Somali community". It is not surprising there is no coherent policy or national strategy when responsibility is spread across the Cabinet Office, Home Office, Foreign Office and DCLG.

It was hardly helpful to social cohesion for the government to announce last year the introduction of charges for asylum seekers who take English classes - a decision the Refugee Council described as "astonishing".

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