Somali youth radicalization in North America

[Titanium]

By Dr. David H. Shinn, Adjunct Professor, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University

Somali youth radicalization

A view from south of the border

The radicalization of Somali youth in North America has taken two principal forms — supporting extremist organizations in Somalia and joining Somali gangs in the United States and Canada.

These two phenomena are related to the extent that social alienation experienced by those living in a new and alien culture contributes to their attraction to gangs and extremist organizations.

As worrying as these two developments are, it is important to underscore that only a small minority of Somali youth has been drawn to these harmful and dangerous groups.

It is estimated there are more than 100,000 Somalis in the U.S. and between 150,000 to 200,000 in Canada. The overwhelming majority of these Somalis have become good citizens and are only trying to escape violence in Somalia or find a better life in North America.

At the same time, the small minority that join a gang or support an extremist organization in Somalia or elsewhere do incalculable damage to the image of the Somali community in North America.

Gang culture in the U.S.

Youth street gangs have a long history in the U.S. and have become a mini-society within the larger American society and a separate subculture.

Gangs often have an exclusive territory and exhibit a common culture. They provide an alternative set of values that replace those learned by mainstream society as a result of ties to family, religion, school and community.

Each gang has a culture of its own, although it may be similar to the culture of other gangs.

The culture of the gang is often one of violence. This willingness to turn to violence is often driven by frustration resulting from a lack of opportunity for meaningful employment, poor quality schools, failed public services, incompetent parents, inattentive churches and mosques and discrimination, real or perceived, from the wider community.

Ethnic gangs have a need for social interaction and have developed in communities as widely varied as immigrants from Albania, Russia, China, Serbia, Nigeria, South Africa, Ireland, Iran, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and, more recently, Somalia.

Somali gangs in North America

There is little statistical data on the number and size of Somali youth gangs in the U.S., although the number of gangs and their membership appears still to be small. Most of the attention has been on the rise of Somali gangs in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area in Minnesota, otherwise known as the Twin Cities, which also has the largest Somali population in the U.S.

Somali criminal gangs first consisted of a small number of loosely connected members who adopted the gang culture, using signs and symbols to show their affiliation.

Unlike common gang culture, however, the first Somali gangs tended not to have a particular leader or an established hierarchy, although older members were treated with more respect than younger ones.

A report commissioned by the state of Minnesota’s Department of Civil Rights concluded that the refugee experience was partially responsible for the rise of gangs. Fractured family structures and post traumatic stress disorder followed many young Somalis from refugee camps to Minnesota.

By mid-2009, it was estimated that between 400 and 500 Somalis were active in gangs in the metropolitan area.

Somali gangs have a modus operandi that is different from most gangs. They do not own a territory and they are highly mobile.

Somali gangs now have a modus operandi that is different from most gangs. They do not “own” a territory, as is the case for most gangs, and they are highly mobile. They have also become hard to identify because they don’t have gang tattoos or display signs or symbols.

On the other hand, the Somali gangs have become well organized. This suggests that the gangs based in Minnesota are changing their tactics to elude the law and expand their activities.

Mohammad Zafar published a study in 2010 based on interviews with a small number of gang members in the Twin Cities. He concluded that Somali youth found themselves in a new environment where they felt unwelcome on all sides.

Members reported that they joined a gang to be part of something, to fit in and to get respect on the street. Parents and children experienced role reversal after arriving in the U.S. due to the increasingly heavy reliance of parents on their children. As a result, many young Somalis did not have anyone to identify with as they went through adolescence.

Ground zero for Somali gangs in Canada seems to be Alberta, where at least 30 young Somali men have been killed in the past five years in violent battles surrounding the drug trade. Most of those involved in the trade went to Edmonton, Calgary and Fort McMurray from the large Somali community in Toronto to work in the oil sands.

They quickly found it was easier to make more money selling drugs but immediately encountered opposition from more established non-Somali drug gangs, such as the Hells Angels and Asian triads. Some of the non-Somali gangs recruited Somalis to work for them at the lowest levels of the operation.

Somali community leaders in Alberta believe many victims were related to or knew each other before arriving in the province, suggesting they may have been lured by friends into the drug trade.

Others point to the absence of paternal guidance and lack of direction by many Somali fathers in Somali communities. Among other recommendations, community leaders are calling on parents to become more engaged in their children’s education and for Somali elders, community leaders, educators and parents to listen more to the concerns of Somali youth.

Somali-Americans and extremism

There is a fear that Somalis recruited into extremist organizations, such as al-Shabaab in Somalia, might one day return to the U.S. to carry out attacks.

While the number of Somalis who support or have joined these organizations is miniscule, there have been just enough of them from a variety of different cities to attract widespread, negative attention that reflects badly on the responsible Somali community.

Al-Shabaab has one of the more effective internet recruitment programs developed by extremist groups.

By early 2007, al-Shabaab began recruiting in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Small numbers of young Somalis began leaving for Somalia from Seattle, Boston, Portland, Maine, and Columbus, Ohio. More than 20 young Somalis, most of them from Minnesota, joined al-Shabaab by mid-2009.

Although the numbers have subsequently grown, it is almost impossible to provide an accurate total today. Those Somali-Americans who have joined al-Shabaab represent a wide variety of backgrounds — from criminals to intelligent, upstanding citizens.

Somali-Canadians and extremism

In October 2009, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott warned that radicalization of the American Somali community may be an indicator of similar processes at work in Canada.

He suggested there is also a possibility that Somali-Canadians who travel to Somalia to fight will return to Canada, filled with an extremist ideology and the skills to translate the ideology into action.

Before parents blame others for the failings of their children, they should first look at their own role.

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a Somali-Canadian who immigrated to Ontario in 1989, spent six months with al-Shabaab in 2008. He said the presence of Ethiopian troops in Somalia inspired him to join.

When the Ethiopian force left Somalia early in 2009, he became disillusioned with al-Shabaab and returned to Toronto where he is trying to start a group called Generation Islam to combat radicalization in his community.

Moving forward

It has not been easy for Somalis to integrate into North American society. Somalis have confronted a new culture and language. Many have had to deal with broken family structure and poverty.

But Canada and the United States have opened their doors to Somalis and immigrants from numerous other nations, who have become an integral part of North American society. There is no reason why Somalis will not also succeed.

While some of the responsibility for successful integration falls on local social service organizations, schools and police forces, the first line of defense for ensuring that Somali youth do not join gangs or become radicalized is their families.

There is no substitute for caring parents, siblings and grandparents.

Before parents blame others for the failings of their children, they should first look at their own role.

The second line of defense is the leadership at the mosque. By helping to encourage young Somalis to act responsibly and by keeping extremism out of the mosque, the imams can have a critically important impact.

Government and community organizations can then help meet the remaining challenges.

Dr. David Shinn is an adjunct professor in the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He served for 37 years in the United States Foreign Service with assignments at embassies in Lebanon, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritania, Cameroon, Sudan and as ambassador to Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/gazette/vol73 ... e6-eng.htm

[Minneapolis Mayor]

Walaalo, we already have enough majeerteen and Ogadeen oo iska hadlo in our country. We do not have time for Oday Cadaan ah oo iska hadlo. Don't you think two chatter box clans is enough for us to listen to. Now you got to add cadaan on it.

[Magnusomalius]

Good piece . When your father is a badow { nothing against badows per se} and everybody around you in your family are equally badow , then you become another badow , the only difference being that you speak english .
Many of them here , very hard to convince specially when you have no leverage {tribal} like over the animal here above me for example
Allah help us