Lost Boys

[Centurion]

Lost Boys

 

 

 

By: Rageh Omaar & Paul Sapin

 

Lost to their community and lost to their faith, young Somali men of London are turning to ever more violent forms of street crime.

 

 

 

Victims of their own alienation

 

But it was only when 18-year-old Somali Mahir Osman was murdered in Camden by a 30-strong Somali gang in January 2006, did Somali clan elders realise that things had spiralled beyond their control.

 

The police got involved and the outcome was three gang members sentenced to life imprisonment, with five others sentenced to lesser jail terms. Somalis today form the largest ethnic group among young offenders incarcerated in the notorious Feltham Young Offender Institution south of London.

 

In this powerful authored documentary, Rageh Omaar pursues the stories of three recent murders – in Woolwich, Camden and Southall - to try to understand why this new generation of young Somali men are underachieving in education - and what makes them turn on each other.

 

He speaks to Mahir Osman’s mother, Asha, who believes that the boys struggle because they don't identify with any culture. "They haven’t got Somali culture, they haven't got English culture. They don’t know what they're doing. Really, they don't know. They're a lost generation."

 

Rageh also goes on the airwaves at a local Muslim radio station to appeal for insight.

 

 

 

A mother grieves for her lost son

 

Through personal meetings with disgruntled Somali boys, with elders who have taken to patrolling the streets by night for loiterers, and with an extraordinary reconciliation between the parents of Mahir Osman and his killer's parents, Rageh learns that a lack of guidance could be the basis of the youth falling astray.

 

"Quite a lot of things struck me about what they said," he explains, "But two things stand out. One of them was when one of the boys said: 'You see them, the older Somali guys? They're here day and night, chewing qat, they're spending the family's money, they're not with the kids, they're certainly not giving us any guidance…how on earth can we respect them? And if they dare to try and discipline us, none of us would stand for it.'

 

"And just as I was leaving," Rageh continues, "one of the boys said something that was really powerful. He said: 'Why are we talking about this when it's ten years too late?'"

 

 

 

 

 

It is a sobering thought that a genuinely 'lost' generation is upon us, although these issues of identity and general social disintegration are always endemic in any Diaspora.

[Fabregas]

Very close to home and very sad indeed!

[Laba-X]

A sad story indeed, though i believe Mr Rageh omaar didn't handle this too well. The wealth of informarion and opinion we gave him at that talk inside Moolwich Mosque wasn't boradcast.

 

Much of what we said was filtered and selectively processed to fit with his theme...

[Fabregas]

so which 1 is u?

[Laba-X]

I among the silent sentinels of the Somalis whose views have been repressed for being too forthrightly and brazen...

[Fabregas]

i think its time 2 spill the beans

[chubacka]

yeaaah i can watch this wen I get home ia. thanks

[me]

lol...kids with identity crisis...people we are a nation with identity crisis. Why blame the kids, when the grown ups don't know who they are.

[cynical lady]

What I find sad is how easy it is to find excuses, ohh yes they don’t fit in with English or Somali culture there a lost generation… that’s all bulshit to me the cultural conflict has been used and exhausted don’t you think its about time we drop it? How many people are out there stuck in countries with no opportunity and seek the chance to transform there lives? Thousands of people migrate to Europe and some even die on the process just to gain an access to these opportunities When are Somalis going to accept individual responsibilities? those street warmers and prison dwellers are there because of a life choice, there underachieving out of there own choices am sorry I have no sympathy nor do I think they should be given any if the individual cant realise the privilege that’s been handed to them then its your own dam fault don’t look for an escape goat……how come the Indian youth are over achieving, what about the Nigerians etc what about them? Why is it’s the Somali youth that fuel the prison cells these days or are at the bottom in the education/employment ladder? Should we blame the lack of fathers/ rise of single families? Or should we blame the qaat? Or should we look at the street dweller himself and ask him why he is there not making something of himself?

 

Life is ultimately about individual choices and you should own up and take responsibility for those choices either bad or good … As my mum says daantada ada skalee (excuse the Somali)

 

Ps some of these youth where born here, some came when they were infants so I don’t think the other excuse of “ there the children of the war” is going to work

[me]

^Nigerians are underachieving.

[cynical lady]

Now compare the two i.e. Somalis and the Nigerians? Who’s at the bottom?

[me]

They are in the same league........I am talking about the ones that grew up in London.

 

I am not talking about the international students, which are sent by their wealthy parents or those who got scholarships.

 

Look at how many Nigerians get A-levels. They are in the same categories as the Somalis. The only group that’s doing worse then them is the Black Caribbean’s boys.

[Jacaylbaro]

I can already see the Lost Boys

[Blessed]

I've two such 'boys' in my family and I'm in complete agreement with Cynical Lady. We're not talking about 5 year olds, here.

 

p.s Indians are the richest ethnic minority group in the UK, so they don't live in ghettos, and they are generally a very hard working and dedicated people.

[Fabregas]

Nigerian and other kids from Africa who either came here as kids or were born here are running wild in some parts of South London, in fact they were involved in some pretty nasty beef with Somali youth in that area. Those Africa youth are also lost as they are not quite African Carribean but are still African British and have no great connection to their parents culture. You wouldn't even know there parents are from Ghana, Congo or Angola until they tell you. Indians also have their fare share of Gangsters and misguided youth. So those are just stereotypes to suggest that Nigerians and Indians are doing good and Somali Youths are doing bad. Drugs, Gang culture and violence is societal problem that stretches from Cape Town, Middlebrough, Minesota to South London. Is not a gene one inherites depending on what country they are from, rather it's a product of environment. One needs to analyse the enivronment that creates a large number of Somalis to join this culture?