MEDILL REPORTS
BY SRIDHAR NATARAJAN
MARCH 03, 2011
Uncertainty and discomfort punctuate the words of Hamse Osman Hashi. There is very little in his tone that suggests he is a serving government official.
Just 25 years old, Hashi is a parliament member in the pirate stronghold of Northeast Somalia, but he fled from there fearing for his life. He is seeking asylum in Chicago, even though his name still figures on the government website as a member of parliament.
“Being in the government means nothing in Somalia,” he said. “We have no control.”
Attacks by rebel groups and piracy off the shores of Somalia have seen a steady rise in the last few years. Four American hostages were killed by pirates last week after a failed negotiation attempt.
International groups estimate there are nearly 700 people held by pirates. In many cases, millions of dollars are paid for the release of hostages. Refusal to pay ransom often results in death.
“They are not humans, they are barbarians,” Hashi said. “Why do they kill?”
Most pirates, according to Hashi, are former fishermen who started out to protect their livelihood from large international trawlers near Somali waters. But Hashi cannot come to terms with their methods.
“They have the right to speak out, but there is no place for violence,” he said.
Hashi said his many appearances in the Somali media speaking against the problem of piracy had angered the pirate groups.It angered them enough to come looking for Hashi in his house. While he was hiding in the bathroom, he says, they beat up his pregnant wife.
“I had to leave because I had a conscience,” he said. “They will kill anyone with a
conscience.”
Plagued by civil war and the burgeoning pirate problem in its Northeast, Somalia is fast sinking and needs urgent attention from the international community.
In the 20 years since the civil war, no government has established broad control over the country. The Transitional Federal Government does not have any authority beyond Mogadishu and the threat of the country breaking up into many parts is very real.
Abdi Samatar, author of many books on Somalia and a professor at the University of Minnesota, said there will be many more refugees like Hashi if the U.S. does not change its policy.
“The American government is trying to Balkanize the region,” Samatar said. “The Somalis view any American intervention with a lot of suspicion.”
At least five other members of the government in the autonomous region of Northeast Somalia are looking for asylum in different countries, Hamse Hashi said.
Hashi rolled up his sleeves to show a wound from a roadside bomb that was planted to assassinate him in August 2009. In the following months, three members of parliament were killed. The second death was the trigger for him to move out of Somalia with his family.
With his brother already living in Rogers Park, he chose Chicago as his destination for refuge. His wife and children are still in a refugee camp in Ethiopia. The only way his family can join him here is if he is given asylum.
When he is not being grilled by immigration officials, Hashi said, he finds a corner and spends the day watching the dynamics of downtown Chicago at work.
He would do anything to avoid finding himself alone and thinking in the house, he said. But that is something he cannot avoid. “I am up all night thinking about my wife and kids,” Hashi said. “I don’t even know if they are dead or alive.”
Medill reporter Sara Al-Farhan served as translator for the interview with Hashi.
