May 30, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
151 More Somalis Held In Libyan Jails Arrive In Mogadishu
30 May – Source: Goobjoog News – 174 Words
One hundred and fifty-one Somali returnees, who had been held in Libyan jails, arrived in the country today adding to a total of 176 of those who have be repatriated since President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo initiated the return-to-home mission in December 2017.
Somali ambassador to the European Union Ali Faqi, who has been leading the government repatriation team told reporters upon arrival in Mogadishu with the returnees, that the government was putting in efforts to ensure all Somalis stranded in Libya safely return home.
The ambassador added that all those who returned today, mostly young people, had voluntarily registered themselves for the return programme noting close to 150 others will be returning soon. “We registered 300 people in the last 15 days and we have managed to bring home the first 151 today,” Faqi said. The first group of 11 returnees arrived in the country on February 11, followed by another 13 on March 7, and a similar number on March 14. Several Somalis remain in Libya with some, according to Mr. Faqi, opting to stay or move to third countries.
Key Headlines
- 151 More Somalis Held In Libyan Jails Arrive In Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- Two Suspected Militants Armed With Pistols Apprehended In Mogadishu (Hiiraan Online)
- Benadir Fishermen Go Missing As Locals Blame Illegal Foreign Trawlers (Radio Ergo)
- UN Pledges 2.7 Mln USD To Help Somaliland Communities Affected By Cyclone (Xinhua)
- Baltimore Man Gets 35 Years For Joining Somali Terror Group (NBC News)
- Somali-Swedish Diaspora Engagement In The Somali Region (Open Democracy)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Two Suspected Militants Armed With Pistols Apprehended In Mogadishu
30 May – Source: Hiiraan Online – 103 Words
Two suspected Al-Shabaab assassins were captured in a house in Mogadishu’s Waberi district, during a security operation in the capital city. Security forces raided the house, where the suspected militants were believed to be hiding. An exchange of gunfire ensued when the armed suspects attempted to resist arrest.
The suspects were finally apprehended with one of them sustaining serious injuries, as a civilian caught up in the gunfire exchange was killed. Waberi district has in recent weeks witnessed a rise in the number of Al-Shabaab attacks carried out by militant assassins. The latest such killing targeted a parliamentary staff just two days ago.
Benadir Fishermen Go Missing As Locals Blame Illegal Foreign Trawlers
29 May – Source: Radio Ergo – 410 Words
Fadumo Nur Abdulkadir, a 52 year mother, wakes up every morning and takes long walks along Hamar-Weyne coastline in Benadir region in search of her son, who has been missing for more than a month. Fadumo’s son, Mr. Abshir Muridi Mahamed, was among a group of fishermen who went out to sea one day in April and did not come back. Their bodies have not been found. Suspicion is that they were abducted by foreign trawlers.
Fadumo always returns to the place where her son and his colleagues used to camp before going to the sea: “I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, my family members are all so worried,” said Fadumo. She has heard from fishermen in Lower Shabelle that her son was captured by men on foreign trawlers who were fishing illegally off the Somali coast. Abshir 20, was the eldest son in Fadumo’s family and the only one providing an income for the other seven family members. Fadumo’s husband has been bedridden for two years with tuberculosis of the spine. Currently Fadumo gets some help from her two nephews, one of who repairs car air conditioners while the other makes hand-sewn traditional clothing.
Abshir is one of 12 fishermen, who went missing on 12 April. The men went out in four boats, four in each boat, according to Iman Abdulkadir Suuf, a member of one of the groups. Iman told Radio Ergo that his boat escaped and returned to the shore when they heard gunshots from a foreign ship. It was late at night and the ocean was calm. They were in Dooliyow area near Marka town in Lower Shabelle, from where they had set out fishing. .
Iman said they have previously been attacked by men aboard foreign boats off the Somali coast. He believes a foreign trawler abducted the other men in his group as part of a plot to prevent leakage of information about their illegal activities. Other fishermen are now so afraid of being attacked or kidnapped by foreign trawlers. They have opted to confine themselves to the very shallow waters off the shore.
The director of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Abdirisak Diriye Warsame, told Radio Ergo that they had received several complaints from the local fishermen’s association. They have contacted neighbouring countries seeking information about the young fishermen but have received any feedback. The director confirmed that foreign vessels have been exploiting fishing resources in the area for a long time.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UN Pledges 2.7 Mln USD To Help Somaliland Communities Affected By Cyclone
30 May – Source: Xinhua – 305 Words
The UN on Tuesday pledged 2.7 million U.S. dollars to help Somaliland communities affected by a cyclone which left at least 25 people dead and displaced thousand others. Peter de Clercq, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia who visited the self-declared semi-autonomous region, said the response to the combination of events- storm, floods, drought- highlighted the need for a response which addresses both the short- and longer-term needs of humanitarian events.
De Clercq said in a statement released in Mogadishu that the short-term should focus on the immediate emergency and the longer-term centred on building the resilience of communities like that of the Awhal region. The recent landfall of Cyclone Sagar on the northern Horn of Africa has affected some 160,000 people, killing dozens and causing severe damage to infrastructure and economic loss, especially for those with a traditional pastoral livelihood, according to the UN.
It said the cyclone’s impact has compounded an already-difficult humanitarian and development situation in the area due to recent heavy flooding and a years-long drought. De Clercq had been in Somaliland to see its impact first-hand, as well as meet with local partners, including government officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations, community elders and people directly affected by the storm.
The cyclone comes after a powerful tropical cyclone with winds in excess of 120 km/per hour and an entire year’s worth of rain which landed in Somalia on May 19 left destruction and death in its wake in Somaliland, endangering the lives of thousands of children in the region. Cyclone Sagar tore through the coastal north of the country, destroying homes and livelihoods in its wake. According to Somaliland authorities, at least 25 people have been killed, 27 others are missing and hundreds of homes destroyed following tropical cyclone Sagar that caused heavy rains and flooding in Somaliland.
Baltimore Man Gets 35 Years For Joining Somali Terror Group
30 May – Source: NBC News – 471 Words
A Maryland man who joined and fought with the Somali terrorist group al-Shabab was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Tuesday, the Justice Department said. Maalik Alim Jones, 33, of Baltimore pleaded guilty in September to three charges of conspiring to provide material support to al-Shabab, conspiring to receive military training from the terror group, and carrying and using an AK-47 machine gun, rocket-propelled grenades and other destructive devices, federal prosecutors in New York said.
Judge Paul G. Gardephe sentenced Jones in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. His sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release, the Justice Department said. Prosecutors have said that Jones traveled to Somalia in 2011 to train, work and fight with al-Shabab. Court documents say that he became a member of al-Shabab’s specialized fighting force, known as Jaysh Ayman, and fought against Kenyan government soldiers, and that Jones appeared with other al-Shabab fighters in at least two videos recovered from another al-Shabab fighter.
“U.S. citizens who travel overseas to fight with a terrorist organization — which is what Jones did — betray our country and pose a serious threat to our national security,” Assistant Attorney General John Demers said in a statement. Jones was arrested by Somali authorities on Dec. 7, 2015, as he tried to get a boat to go to Yemen, federal prosecutors said, where he aimed to join the Islamic State terror group.
Jones’ defense attorney said in court documents that Jones, a Muslim, “has expressed his sincere remorse” for committing the crimes and “unequivocally states that he was wrong for believing that his religion provided any justification for violence.” The attorney did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Tuesdaynight.
Prosecutors said Jones “did not merely join and swear allegiance” to al-Shabab or “engage in isolated or relatively minor acts of support.” “Rather, over the course of more than four years, he fully committed himself to al-Shabab, traveling halfway around the world to join and train with one of its most specialized and violent units,” prosecutors said in a May 22 filing. “By his own admission, the defendant took up arms and engaged in battle in furtherance of the organization’s murderous goals.”
The Jaysh Ayman group is responsible for killing around 40 people in a 2014 attack on a hotel bar in Mpeketoni, Somalia; an attack on a church in Kenya that killed nine people that same year; and an attack in 2015 that targeted a Kenyan military base, the Justice Department said. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for an attack on the Westgate Mallin Nairobi, Kenya, in 2015 that left at least 67 people dead. The group also claimed responsibility for an attack on Garissa University College in Kenya in 2015 that killed 147 people. Jones was not accused of being involved in those attacks.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“No matter what, diaspora actors call for more reconstruction and service delivery in contexts of abject poverty and post-conflict – like in much of the Somali region. Another challenge is extensive administrative procedures in combination with relatively short project duration periods of projects receiving matched funding.”
Somali-Swedish Diaspora Engagement In The Somali Region
30 May – Source: Open Democracy – 869 Words
Diaspora groups have been recognized as development actors in policy circles since the early 2000s. Most attention has been paid to remittances sent to developing countries, whose volume is triple that of official development assistance. However, disaster relief, development projects and knowledge transfer are significant development contributions as well. Somali-Swedish diaspora engagement in the Somali region is a case in point, with activities ranging from water provision in drought-affected areas to promotion of women’s rights. Programmes supporting such involvement may strengthen its development potential but institutional and administrative constraints risk undermining the impact.
Since the outbreak of civil war in Somalia in 1991, Somali refugees have settled all over the world, including Sweden. Somalis are well known for their transnational engagement in their erstwhile homeland, providing a lifeline in times of crisis and contributing to long-term processes of change. Sweden has become a significant hub for Somali diaspora engagement, with a rich and diverse civil society engagement.
There are numerous registered diaspora associations supporting development in the Somali region, including women’s associations, NGOs and umbrella organizations. Informal diasporic networks spanning several continents, mosques and businesses are also diaspora actors. Two diaspora support programmes exist, offering matched funding for Somali-Swedish diaspora associations working with development and for social entrepreneurship.
Diaspora projects receiving matched funding typically concern sustainable development, gender equality, human rights and job creation, in line with Swedish development priorities. However, many diaspora activities are self-funded through donations from Somalis in Sweden and sometimes globally. These projects tend to focus on health, education, water provision and drought relief.
No matter whether their activities receive external funding or not, many diaspora actors explain their involvement as motivated by a sense of moral obligation in the face of suffering. “It’s like you have an obligation to give back” as one female activist put it, while a man explained how his development engagement was kicked off by a visit to his native town. Being devastated by the poverty he encountered there, he decided to do something himself. “There are opportunities in Sweden and there is funding for organizations”, he said and continued, “there is nobody else; who can it be rather than us?” “There is nobody else; who can it be rather than us?”
Somalia is a significant partner country for SIDA, being the fourth biggest recipient in 2016. Both SIDA and Somali-Swedish diaspora groups thus have extensive engagement in the Somali region. On the one hand, SIDA has a strategic interest in cultivating a strong relationship with Somali-Swedish development actors to further contributions in alignment with overall Swedish priorities and interests. On the other hand, progress in development and reconstruction in the Somali region is of huge importance for Somali-Swedes. Likewise matched funding for diaspora engagement makes it possible to upscale certain types of diaspora involvement. There are thus mutual opportunities and interests.
TOP TWEETS
@A_Nur: Mama Habibo met her son Yacqub today after 3 years of missing him in Libya at the @NCRI WaySatation. She heard more than 10 times that her son was passed away in Libya. He is now enjoying the hospitality services in the picture (accommodation and healthcare) by NCRI.
@EU_in_Somalia: EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World 2017, adopted by the Council at its meeting held on 28 May 2018.
@raakhiwilliams: @DFID_UK has achieved so much on mine action in #Somalia by working closely w/Ministry of Intl Security, SEMA & partners @TheHALOTrust @MAGsaveslives@NPAdisarm. At our Steering Committee we agreed the importance of getting parliament to approve legislation establishing SEMA.
@Goobjoognews: 3 Shabaab militants to be executed for Nasa-Hablood II attack.
@HarunMaruf: Somali Govt says more than 150 Somali migrants who have been “stranded” in Libya were evacuated. A plane carrying the migrants has landed at Mogadishu airport on Wednesday. It’s the third batch of Somali migrants evacuated from Libya since the year following efforts by the Govt.
@taakulosom: Thanks to funding from @unicefsomalia the students attending schools in Bixin and Gawsaweyne have been taught valuable and vital hygiene promoting practises. Reducing the risk and the spread of diseases.
#SustainSomaliSupport #WithSomalia
@engyarisow: This evening I had an Iftar with local community in Waaberi District as part of the Neighborhood Watch scheme
@Somalia: The new Supreme Court Chief Mr. Bashe Yusuf Ahmed was sworn in Tuesday morning at the presidential palace in #Mogadishu, in the presence of H.E. President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Speaker of the House of the People, Hon. Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdirahman. #Somalia #Somali
IMAGE OF THE DAY
A group of young Somali men repatriated from Libya waiting in line at the Mogadishu International Airport.
Photo: Goobgoob News