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Sadiiq Ali returned to Somalia in 2006 from west London, where he served as a community worker, organizing conferences for the Somali community in London. “I am comfortable in Mogadishu. Firstly one thinks about the immediate future, and then what you can do for your country. I have been working in London for 5 years, two of my children born in London, but I decided to resettle them here. I believe that life in London is not better for them then in Mogadishu. I have plans to establish a restaurant here in Mogadishu soon next year,” said Sadiiq.
Many of the Somalis returning from abroad to Mogadishu or elsewhere in the country relate in particular their concern over traditional insights they fear they would lose by living in the western nations.
Jabriil Ahmed is a 32 year old Somali taxi driver in Minnesota, who returned to Mogadishu 6 months ago. Jabriil talked Somalia Report about his perspective on life in Mogadishu: “I was concerned about returning, about trusting people in town because I was told that Mogadishu is too dangerous. Everyone talked about killing, how insecurity is widespread, how you have to be vigilant and don’t talk to people you don’t know. That is what my friends warned me, but what I’ve seen is quite different. I know that many Somali families in Minnesota are anxious to return home, to teach their children their mother language and culture. I’m really proud of my country. I want to encourage some of the Minnesota Somalis back home to repatriate, because Somalia needs its people -- that is what I keep in my mind when I go back to Minnesota,” said Jabriil.
The US government has accused some Somalis of returning to Somalia to fight alongside al-Shabaab, holding some on trial while accusing others of terrorism. The US courts have also charged Somalis in America with sending money back to the terror groups in the country, or join them to fight against the weak interim Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and its African Union allies. Some Somalis have tired of living under suspicion of terrorism.
There are also a considerable number of young Somalis who are studying in foreign universities, since Somalia remains mired in a conflict which makes pursuing higher education difficult. University students have come under attack in Mogadishu several times, most recently when al-Shabaab struck against students waiting their exam results outside of the education ministry on October 4.
The country’s future is still unclear to many Somalis. Somalia has suffered civil war since the fall of military rule by Mohammed Siyad Barre in 1991.