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IRIN Web Special on Separated Somali Children
Chapter 6: 'Deported' home: between two worlds
Between two worlds
After spending a year in Baidoa, however, the father heard that the boy had moved out of the grandparents' house, rebelled at the local school, and become involved with a local gang of boys. The father told IRIN he was on his way to collect the boy and take him back to Sweden, because he feared his son would join the local militia. Little is known about the effects of this "flip-flopping" between two worlds - characterized by disapproval and identity crises.
The belief by the diaspora that a return to the homeland will automatically "straighten out" children considered delinquent or disobedient is a misconception, says Fatuma Ibrahim, UN Human Rights Officer for Somalia. "There are plenty of hazards - drugs, alcohol, prostitution, violent gangs - all of which are easy to access. It's not true that there are fewer hazards here; that is a myth. Every child who is brought back [to Somali territories] because they have a drug or alcohol problem abroad will find it here, easily."
But it is effective in other ways, she agrees. The general absence of institutions and legislation combined with traditional aspects of Somali culture does give relatives and parents freedom to control and discipline a child without restraint. "You can discipline the child how you wish, lock them in a room, beat them - no one is going to stop you here. Some children get sent out to nomadic relatives as a sort of shock treatment, or get married off," one returnee diaspora mother told IRIN.
One of the things all the returnee minors have to cope with, regardless of their circumstances, are the gangs of local children who operate in the urban centres.
Parents try to keep their children out of 'gun-school'
Photo: UNICEF
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Child gangs
Child gangs are the result of the breakdown of the family structure in Somaliland, Zamzam Abdi, head of Community of Concerned Somalis, a local NGO in Hargeysa working with war widows, told IRIN. Although a now relatively peaceful post-conflict society, the traditional family structure in Somaliland has suffered as a result of war and the exodus to the refugee camps.
"These children have known more violence than anything else in their lives - their fathers have been killed, they have joined the militia, they have quit school, they deal in qat [Catha edulis], they are the children of mothers who are forced to be the family breadwinner," she said. War widows had to "fill the vacuum" left by men who had either died or left for the refugee camps; or who were supported by men later adversely affected as ex-combatants, Zamzam Abdi explained.
Often working women have to discontinue their daughters' education so that the girls can take on household responsibilities. Poverty, parental absence, and exposure to violence and trauma have been critical causes in the formation of the gangs - which often include children as young as 10, as well as young teenagers. "These gangs are very feared, and have declared some parts of the town no-go-zones as they wreak havoc at night - they extort money, and rape girls." According to Zamzam Abdi, there is urgent need for the children to be rehabilitated, educated and given opportunities to earn a living
But at present, there are no rehabilitation opportunities for such children - no social workers, juvenile courts or institutional care. Fatuma Ibrahim told IRIN that delinquent or violent children were taken to the adult prisons, where they were likely to be abused. "They are the victims of sexual, mental and physical abuse. The guards tell me they literally pull the older men off the children at night when they hear them screaming. There are a very small number of girls, but they are there - they are put in the women's quarters with prostitutes and thieves and are vulnerable to abuse by the guards."
Imprisoning children
When IRIN visited the main Hargeysa prison,27 about 25 to 30 children were being held there, according to the prison staff. A group of about 12 boys were held in an outhouse made of iron sheets near the main prison yard. The children had no bedding, and were confined in the sweltering heat, near an open sewage pit.
According to a prison guard, most of the group had been brought in by parents for drug abuse and violence, and would be kept for about two months - or until the parents told the prison authorities to release them. They are known as asewaladine - children who have disobeyed. In most cases, it is the parents who decide the duration of their incarceration. Young girls were visible in the women's quarter, peering out of the bars.
"Some of the children are very violent to the mothers - they beat them for money, and for qat. I've seen them in the prisons at all ages. They stay for about three to five months at a time, and some for as long as 11 months. They are even more traumatized when they get out, so there is a high chance of them returning back to prison again," Fatuma Ibrahim said.
The plight of Somali children
According to humanitarian workers and human rights organisations, conflict and neglect have meant that children have suffered in all the Somali territories - some in the extreme. In Mogadishu, children suffer the consequences of continued conflict and lawlessness as well as the general breakdown of government and society.
The Mogadishu-based Dr Ismail Jimaale Human Rights Centre has tried to draw attention to the particular plight of children - including killings, forcible recruitment, and imprisonment. Other concerns include the many street children, whose numbers in the urban centres increase with repatriation and migration movements.
In Hargeysa, young homeless girls - who are easy prey for gangs - sleep in among the petrol containers in the hope that the smell and the danger of the petrol will keep away potential attackers. Having to live on the streets of the large urban centres is one of the most dangerous prospects for Somali children in all territories. IRIN was told that street children were in some cases forced to beg for gangs after being raped and beaten, or they are killed and abused by militia in areas of continuing conflict. In the rural, nomadic areas and refugee camps, life is no better for these most vulnerable members of society: where poverty is acute, some children were sold by their parents as labourers and domestic servants, humanitarian workers told IRIN.
"So you can see why, for some, sending a child away on a plane is considered the biggest favour you can do," Fatuma Ibrahim observed.
27 February 2002
[Ends]
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