Violence from a War-torn land
Posted: Sun May 21, 2006 9:31 am
Violence from a War-torn land
The search for a youth of Somali origin in connection with the murder of Kiyan Prince will add to the woes of community leaders trying to dispel the association of immigrants from the horn of Africa with violent crime.
In recent yrs Somalis hav been connected with the most high-profile murders in Britain and been on the receiving end of criticism from senior figures in other ethnic minority communities.
Mustafa Jama, 25, whose family is part of a large Somali population centred on a mosque in Plumstead south east London, is wanted for murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky.
His 19 yr old brother has already been charged with the crime.
One of the four men awaiting trial for the attempted bombings, Yassin Hassan Omar,is a Somali.
Another Somali, Abdulrahman Osman, raped a 40 yr old woman shortly after he had been released from a 3 yr sentence for robbery, but had not been deported.
Last January, a 19 yr old Somali man was stabbed to death at a bus stop in north London by other Somalis from a different part of the city.
In the past 6 months, Somali youths have been blamed by a Labour MP for a spate of street robberies in Southall, west London, and in South London tensions between Britons of Afro-Caribbean origin and Somalis were brought to public attention by Darcus Howe, a commentator of ethnic minority affairs.
Mohamud Gure, a community leader in Islington, north London, said “We are very, very alarmed by what is happening to the Somali youths in this country.â€Â
“This is the first generation of Somalis who have come to adolescence here and there is a great deal of frustration and poverty and anger and alienation.
“They are frustrated because they do not feel supported by the Somali community or by the government and I think many are disillusioned by life here because they do not see Somali role models who have made successes of themselves. The only role model they have is Rageh Omarâ€Â
“They are confused, really confusedâ€Â
“The government and the Somali community have to do something about this quick. It is a matter of urgency.â€Â
“There must be an intervention at school to give these youngsters a sense that they can achieve something in their lives and this countryâ€Â
Many of them still carry trauma with them that they brought from Somalia as very young childrenâ€Â
“Some of them even saw their parents killed in front of them. Many have no father because he was killed in the chaos of Somalia
“Some of them react by using violence, but it is only a very small minority as Somalis are a peace loving people in general
The search for a youth of Somali origin in connection with the murder of Kiyan Prince will add to the woes of community leaders trying to dispel the association of immigrants from the horn of Africa with violent crime.
In recent yrs Somalis hav been connected with the most high-profile murders in Britain and been on the receiving end of criticism from senior figures in other ethnic minority communities.
Mustafa Jama, 25, whose family is part of a large Somali population centred on a mosque in Plumstead south east London, is wanted for murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky.
His 19 yr old brother has already been charged with the crime.
One of the four men awaiting trial for the attempted bombings, Yassin Hassan Omar,is a Somali.
Another Somali, Abdulrahman Osman, raped a 40 yr old woman shortly after he had been released from a 3 yr sentence for robbery, but had not been deported.
Last January, a 19 yr old Somali man was stabbed to death at a bus stop in north London by other Somalis from a different part of the city.
In the past 6 months, Somali youths have been blamed by a Labour MP for a spate of street robberies in Southall, west London, and in South London tensions between Britons of Afro-Caribbean origin and Somalis were brought to public attention by Darcus Howe, a commentator of ethnic minority affairs.
Mohamud Gure, a community leader in Islington, north London, said “We are very, very alarmed by what is happening to the Somali youths in this country.â€Â
“This is the first generation of Somalis who have come to adolescence here and there is a great deal of frustration and poverty and anger and alienation.
“They are frustrated because they do not feel supported by the Somali community or by the government and I think many are disillusioned by life here because they do not see Somali role models who have made successes of themselves. The only role model they have is Rageh Omarâ€Â
“They are confused, really confusedâ€Â
“The government and the Somali community have to do something about this quick. It is a matter of urgency.â€Â
“There must be an intervention at school to give these youngsters a sense that they can achieve something in their lives and this countryâ€Â
Many of them still carry trauma with them that they brought from Somalia as very young childrenâ€Â
“Some of them even saw their parents killed in front of them. Many have no father because he was killed in the chaos of Somalia
“Some of them react by using violence, but it is only a very small minority as Somalis are a peace loving people in general