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Reflections: How Are the Somalis Doing in America?
By Ladan Affi
21/11/2000
Somalia is located in the Horn of Africa. It is one of the most homogenous countries in Africa, with its population predominantly sharing one ethnicity (Somali), culture and religion (99.9% Muslim).
From 1969-1991, Somalia was under a dictatorship led by Siyad Barre whose government was overthrown in 1991 by a variety of armed factions. Since then, Somalia has remained without a recognized central government.
How Did the Civil War Impact the Somalis?
When its civil war occurred, Somalia’s population of about 7 million experienced massive movement and displacement. About 1 million fled to the neighboring countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and Yemen while another approximately 2 million were internally displaced.
According to the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Refugees, there are 22.3 million refugees worldwide. The Geneva Convention defines refugees as persons who are outside of their country of origin and cannot return due to a well-founded fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.
What About Life in the U.S. for Somalis?
Many Somalis also fled to Europe and North America. The United States has over 100,000 Somalis who live primarily in Minneapolis, San Diego, Seattle, Columbus, Atlanta and the Washington, D.C./Virginia areas. Many of them came as refugees, through family sponsorship or as asylum seekers.
The refugees were selected and processed overseas. When they arrived in the U.S., they had both a financial and emotional support system in place through the agencies that sponsored them. Also, they tended to arrive here with other family members and they had usually been given some kind of orientation on life in America.
Asylum seekers, on the other hand, arrived on their own. They were sometimes detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and held in detention until their cases are decided which may take years. Some were even placed in prisons with criminal populations. Often moved around, it is difficult for them to maintain lawyers to assist them in gaining recognition as refugees in order to receive assistance.
Resettlement and Adaptation
When refugees arrive in a new country, there is a difficult period of adjustment – the length of which varies depending on their experiences in their home countries. Some refugees may have been tortured by their former regime or during civil war while others may have lost family members.
Other barriers that refugees face during resettlement include learning a new language, finding employment, and dealing with various institutions that are new to them, particularly the education system. Many Somali refugee families are headed by single-mothers, as the husbands are either missing or dead. Unwilling to assimilate, they may experience difficulty in finding employment because of their Islamic dress.
Unfortunately, upon their arrival, many Somalis did not receive much welcome or assistance from the earlier established Muslim communities. They dealt with this by living close to one another.
The children of refugee families are able to learn the new culture and language faster than their parents. In some instances, they assimilate and this causes inter-generational problems. Often, these children may act as translators, particularly during parent-teacher conferences. This situation creates a role reversal which often decreases parental authority.
Role reversal also occurs when parents experience mental health problems, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder. When they are unable to take of their children and there are no extended family members nearby, the oldest child, particularly older girls, will take on the parenting responsibilities. Often, such individuals will deny that they are sick, and refuse to seek treatment due to the stigma associated with mental illness.
Somalis tend to quickly establish their own institutions to meet their community’s needs. Being entrepreneurial, many own businesses while others form religious and language schools to ensure that their children do not forget Islam and the Somali language. They also form their own community organizations to provide necessary services and support to one another. Many of the women, particularly those with young children, work from their homes to provide items that are not readily obtainable in the West such as Islamic and Somali clothing.
Despite the many difficulties they continue to face, most Somalis have adjusted well. Islam, their culture and the support they extend and receive from other Somalis play a major role in their resettlement and adaptation.
Ladan Affi, is a native of Somalia and has lived in North America for 13 years. She is currently studying Political Theory.
Editor’s Note: If you are a new immigrant or refugee and having trouble adjusting, send us a message using the Cyber Counselor section
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