N.O.R.F Posted June 16, 2005 Today, it is estimated, there are around 70,000 Somalis living in the capital, with the largest group of some 10,000 people, in Tower Hamlets. This is thought to be the oldest African community in London. Whilst a lot of Somalis came to London as asylum seekers, fleeing civil unrest in their country, many are second, third and even fourth generation Somalis. There are records of Somalis in London dating back to 1914, when they were recruited to fight in the First World War and then settled in the capital. This first group was followed by a continuous trickle, many of whom came over as merchant seamen. They tended to settle in cities with ports, including Cardiff, Liverpool and London, where they put down roots in Tower Hamlets. Accounts of the time show that many of these seamen only planned to stay in London long enough to make some money before returning to their families. In Somalia, they were nicknamed "The Fortune Men" because they promised to bring wealth back home. Because they always intended to go back to Africa, many of the first Somalis in London didn’t learn English, and they have been slower to establish a formal community here than many other ethnic groups. ^^^A couple in London Iman Link Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Valenteenah. Posted June 16, 2005 ^ Bored, eh? BTW...did u see yesterday's Metro headline? about the Somali guy convicted of attempted rape although the police never found his victim? Em..lemme see if I can find an article. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Valenteenah. Posted June 16, 2005 CCTV traps mystery woman's attacker By Joshua Rozenberg, Legal Editor The Telegraph (Filed: 15/06/2005) A man who was filmed by security cameras assaulting a woman is thought to be the first person in England to be convicted of a rape attack on a victim who has not been found. Farhan Osman yesterday pleaded guilty to the attempted rape of " an unknown person " after he was caught on CCTV attacking a young woman. The 27-year-old was seen by security guards as he forced her to the ground. Footage showed her shouting into the camera for help as Osman tried to rape her. He was interrupted by a passer-by, allowing the woman to jump up, grab her rucksack and run away. Neither the passer-by nor the victim has been found. Osman, an asylum-seeker who came from Somalia about two years ago, was arrested minutes later. The attack happened at 4.30am on March 28 this year in the tunnel under the Elephant and Castle roundabout in south London. Sentencing was adjourned at Inner London Crown Court for a psychiatric report. Source A most excellent result. Victims no longer need to press charges against their attackers for the police to take action. A welcome change in the law, definitely. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N.O.R.F Posted June 16, 2005 ^^as long as there is enough evidence! I saw the headline, i was actually seaching for it but came across the above article instead. The attack happened at 4.30am on March 28 this year in the tunnel under the Elephant and Castle roundabout in south London after a chewing stint no doubt :rolleyes: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Valenteenah. Posted June 16, 2005 ^ Or a hearty drinking session. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
-Serenity- Posted June 16, 2005 A man who was filmed by security cameras assaulting a woman is thought to be the first person in England to be convicted of a rape attack on a victim who has not been found . We are finally 1st on something. :rolleyes: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NGONGE Posted June 16, 2005 This story can’t possibly be true. It’s a white man conspiracy to disturb, degrade and give a bad name to London’s ever-growing Somali community. These saboteurs don’t understand Somali culture. They don’t understand that we bring our children up to follow certain rules and behave in certain ways. Our culture is far too strong and our children too wise to be easily infiltrated by these despicable Western practises such as rape, murder and theft. How can they prove that the man in the CCTV footage was our Somali brother? Normally such footage is in black and white and never clear. They say our brother has pleaded guilty; they must have tortured him into confessing! They’ve already done such things to our fellow Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. They’re still doing it in Cuba! They can easily do it in London too. We should not sit back and let them treat our brother in such a way. We should rise up and demonstrate. We should lobby the government and demand that he be released. Not until the so-called victim materialises should our brother be put on trial. Not unless it’s proven that she’s of sound body and mind (with no previous convictions) should we allow the word RAPE to appear next to the word Somali in the same sentence! We have resided in London since 1914! Look how we’re being treated! We should produce placards and signs then leave them inside the tunnel under the Elephant and Castle roundabout. This is unacceptable and all true, patriotic and proud Somalis should express their revulsion and disgust at the way this brother has been treated. :mad: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shyhem Posted June 16, 2005 ^^ Are u really sure he is innocent or u just believe he is innocent simply because he is somali and u also assume the video is in black and white color. We somalis are not as innocent as we like to claim, somalia is a witness to that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Qac Qaac Posted June 16, 2005 waxaa maqli jiray. markii loo gabyo geel bay ugabyaan goranyo... somerican who in the world is talking about that now.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Valenteenah. Posted June 16, 2005 NG, Nothing but a storm in a teacup, dear. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NGONGE Posted June 16, 2005 ^^^ You rampant feminists will stop at nothing! Have you no heart? The accused man is your countryman. Does that not bother you? Don’t you think it’s unfair? How dare you reduce such a grave case to a silly comparison with storms and teacups? I don’t make it a habit to insult those I disagree with, but if I ever were to make an exception, I would have called you a sell-out, Zephyrine Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
STOIC Posted June 16, 2005 ^^^Ngonge i take your "country men" attitude with a grain of a salt,Sorry Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N.O.R.F Posted June 16, 2005 NG The geezer had a solicitor who met with the CPS who him showed the CCTV video (i presume), would the solicitor advise him to plead guilty if the pics were not very clear? If he were innocent would he plead guilty due to some sort of wrong doing? This is UK not Guantanamo. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Castro Posted June 16, 2005 Our culture is far too strong and our children too wise to be easily infiltrated by these despicable Western practises such as rape, murder and theft. You're not serious, are you? Rape, murder and theft are as common among Somalis as they are any other culture. There's nothing inherent in any culture, other than condemnation, that would stop members of that culture from engaging in these acts. Rape was quite common in Somalia. It was almost never reported, unless severe violence or pregnancy was involved. Why was it not reported? Ours is a paternal culture where men are first class citizens. Second, being a muslim culture, the ability to have extra-marital sexual relationships was limited. Finally, rape is often about power and subjugation and the shame of it lay squarely on the victim. So why would the victims go out of their way to add insult to severe physical and mental injury. I'm glad they caught that criminal and I hope they put him away for a long time. Ofleh Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Curly Posted June 16, 2005 I think this is ngonge's idea of a joke…you can't honestly expect us to believe you actually want to protest about a Somali man that was caught trying to rape a woman. How can YOU of all people suddenly rant on about Somalis and their innocence? for goodness sale where were you when a Somali man made headlines for being first person to be convicted with purposely infecting two women with HIV? Ngonge's rants remind me of a crime watch show I watched a few years back, where police caught two Somali boys drug dealing on CCTV in central London. When they were approached by the police their faces on the TV camera were hidden but you could just tell they were Somali. (But no that wasn’t enough humiliation) for those who hadn't figured it out yet that the boys were Somali, the two boys decided to deny they were dealing drugs with their only backing being that... (Of course!) "We're Somalis" and "Somalis don't deal drugs". Lol god I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
