May 11, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Somalia Gearing Up To Send Domestic Workers To Saudi Arabia
10 May – Source: Horseed Media – 205 Words
Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Osman Libah Ibrahim said that 2,000 workers will be sent to the Kingdom soon as part of the agreement between Somalia and Saudi Arabia. The workforce would include maids, nurses and drivers. “From today, we are ready to receive applications from those interested to work in Saudi Arabia. The first batch will be consisted of 2,000 men and women.’’
Poverty and inadequate numbers of jobs in the country are among factors which have forced hundred thousands of Somali men and women to work in the Kingdom. They often complain of being made to work long hours, unpaid wages and in some cases grave physical abuse. Last year, Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Saudi authorities signed an agreement for hiring 50,000 Somali workers, most of them housemaids. The move was widely criticized by the entire Somali population due to the abuse of human rights in the Kingdom.
In a move to defend the agreement, Mr Mohamud said that his government will take necessary measures to safeguard the workers’ rights. Critics of the Federal government’s policy on sending workers to Saudi Arabia say they are more interested in the benefits part of the agreement rather than the consequences.
Key Headlines
- Somalia Gearing Up To Send Domestic Workers To Saudi Arabia (Horseed Media)
- Jubaland Police Defuse Landmine Foiling Militant Bid (Garowe Online)
- Gunmen Shot Dead Mogadishu Airport Staff (Radio Dalsan)
- Chief of Justice Hands Over Office To His Successor (Shabelle News)
- EU Pledges Support For Stabilization Of Somalia (Xinhua)
- MPR Reporter Mukhtar Ibrahim Treated Differently At ISIS Trial (City Pages)
- 36 Suspected Al-Shabaab Arrested In Operation Linda Boni (The Star)
- Process To Gain Refugee Status: “A Money Making Scheme” (The Citizen Justice Network)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Jubaland Police Defuse Landmine, Foiling Militant Bid
10 May – Source: Garowe Online – 167 Words
Security forces in Kismayo have defused and dismantled a landmine planted in a key road on Tuesday. Jubaland security officials told local media that the landmine could have claimed the lives of innocent civilians, blaming Al-Shabaab for the terror bid. They added that security teams have peacefully averted potential attack from the discovered landmine. The road is extensively used by the public.
Gunmen Shot Dead Mogadishu Airport Staff
10 May – Source: Radio Dalsan – 52 Words
Gunmen have shot dead a Mogadishu International Airport staff on Tuesday morning. The gunmen who were on a motorbike carried out the attack near Wadajir district in Mogadishu before escaping the scene. No one claimed the responsibility but Al-Shabaab is known to target Somali government officials.
Chief of Justice Hands Over Office To His Successor
10 May – Source: Shabelle News – 121 Words
Former Chief Justice, Aideed Abdullah Ilka Hanaf has handed over oath to the newly appointed successor Ibrahim Idle Suleiman on Tuesday. During a handover ceremony held in Mogadishu, Ilka Hanaf said he did a lot of achievements during his five-year term in office and he wishes success to his successor.
“There have been significant challenges to improve the country’s judiciary system,” said Ilka-Hanaf. Speaking at the event, Ilka Hanaf congratulated Suleiman on the new post, and pledged to closely work with him. For his part, the newly appointed chief of the supreme court of Somalia Ibrahim Idle Suleiman said he is delighted with the transfer of responsibilities by the outgoing boss.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
EU Pledges Support For Stabilization Of Somalia
10 May – Source: Xinhua – 351 Words
The European Union has pledged more support towards stabilization of Somalia which has been facing increased attacks from Al-Shabaab militants. EU Ambassador to Somalia Michele Cervone d’Urso announced the broadening of the scope of EU engagements in Somalia in areas of migration, supporting community resilience, fighting human trafficking, and countering violent extremism, among others.
“The EU agenda is very clear. Our future is intertwined with yours. We are building it together. We are committed to a stable Somalia and if you look at issues such as migration, radicalization, economic development, and security cooperation, we have a common agenda,” d’Urso said in a statement released by the AU peacekeeping mission (AMISOM) on Tuesday.
“But above all, I am proud I can also claim without any reservation that the well-being of the Somali people always comes first,” d’Urso emphasized. The EU pledge comes after the UN agencies launched a prioritized Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for 2016 in January, seeking 885 million U.S. dollars to reach 3.5 million people in urgent life-saving assistance by the end of year. The UN said some 4.9 million Somalis require food assistance, noting that the humanitarian community would strive to reduce the figure from 4.9 million to 3.2 million people and reduce malnutrition prevalence rates by the end of 2016.
MPR Reporter Mukhtar Ibrahim Treated Differently At ISIS Trial
10 May – Source: City Pages – 459 Words
A few minutes after 8 o’clock Monday morning, Mukhtar Ibrahim started filing through the security line at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis. It was a big day for Ibrahim, and figured to be a long one: Day one of a high-profile trial for three local men accused of plotting to join ISIS fighters in Syria. Ibrahim and a reporter for the Star Tribune approached the security screening and offered their bags for clearance by a security officer. The other reporter, who is white, passed right through and headed for the elevator. Ibrahim was stopped, and told he couldn’t go in yet. He would have to wait for the time when the court opened to the public.
Ibrahim protested, pulling out a press badge showing he works for Minnesota Public Radio. Not good enough, the officer said. Go wait with the rest of the public. Ibrahim didn’t argue and instead just collected his wallet, keys, and bag, and went to wait with public spectators. The way Ibrahim figures, he shouldn’t have even needed to flash the badge. He’s been covering cases there for a year and a half: These guys should recognize him by now.
“They know who I am, they see me every day,” Ibrahim said. “I’m not a stranger coming to cover this case from the East Coast. I’ve been covering this case since day one. They know I’m a reporter.” It’s not the first time Ibrahim has experienced different treatment from courthouse security. For a while, he would make his way through the metal detector and, having passed it, still get pulled over to the side for a second screening administered by an officer with a handheld wand.
One of his colleagues learned of this routine extra screening, and, after she interceded with court officials, that treatment stopped. On Monday, once Ibrahim and the rest of the non-journalists observers there for the trial were let in, he simply walked across the courtroom to the area sectioned-off for members of the media and sat down. But the episode continued to eat at him. “It messed up my mood the whole day,” Ibrahim said. “I was just really frustrated. I didn’t expect this.”
36 Suspected Al-Shabaab Arrested In Operation Linda Boni
10 May – Source: The Star – 337 Words
Thirty six suspected Al-Shabaab militants have been arrested in Operation Linda Boni which began nine months ago. The suspects were handed to agencies including the ATPU for profiling and possible prosecution, said head of security operations James ole Serian. He said on Tuesday that nine security stations comprising the military and members of the KWS and Kenya Forest Service will set up permanent base in the area. Serian said the operation has been successful but that the terror group based in Somalia remains a threat. He also noted the re-emergence of the Islamic State group in Somalia.
“Our security personnel are still holding the fort across the border,” he said, and underlined the need for vigilance. “Security at the border has been beefed up to ensure terror suspects do not penetrate into the country.” It emerged in July 2015 that Al-Shabaab militants had set up permanent base in the vast forest and were living there with their families. The militants and their wives and children hunt game for food and use water from several rivers in the forest.
The disclosure came a day after militants ambushed a police van in Lamu, killed five people, including officers, with an improvised explosive device, and escaped. In September that year, the Kenya Defence Forces and General Service Unit were deployed to flush the militants out of the forest. The operation targeted the Jeysh Ayman, a 300-member Al-Shabaab cell that operated in the forest.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
Process To Gain Refugee Status: “A Money Making Scheme”
10 May – Source: The Citizen Justice Network – 658 Words
AK Abdul Mohammed arrived in South Africa in 2006, he was fleeing war in Somalia and seeking asylum in South Africa. “I was given a letter at the Musina border which stated that I need to have applied for asylum seeker in 15 days. At the time I didn’t know the difference between an asylum seeker and attaining refugee status,” he says. Mohammed now holds a refugee ID, is a member of the Somalia Refugee Forum association and is employed by the Department of Justice as a court interpreter in Limpopo.
Mohammed was invited on Musina FM together with Mr Thabe Mogoboya from Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) and Ms Baloyi from Mesina Legal Advice. They were in studio discussing the plight of asylum seekers and refugees in South Africa and how the government assists in issuing out permits and protecting individuals who apply for refugee status. An asylum seeker is a person who has fled their country of origin and is looking for recognition and protection as a refugee in South Africa. As an asylum seeker, your application is still under consideration.
A refugee is a person who has been granted asylum status and protection in terms of the Refugee Act of 1998. The refugee permit is valid for two years. You can apply for a permanent residence permit if you have lived in South Africa for more than five years on a refugee status permit. According to the UN refugee agency, there are approximately 65,000 recognized refugees in South Africa. At at the end 2013, there were 230,000 asylum-seekers awaiting decisions. Baloyi says, ” most people have fled their countries because of conflict. These conflicts range from the political, religious or being victims of sexual violence.”