Taako Man Posted January 20, 2007 Aiding former homeland: 18 Somali MPs are citizens of Canada Stewart Bell, National Post MOGADISHU - Somalia has been ruled by the Arabs, the French, the British and the Italians, but now power is in the hands of Canadians. The interim government that took over this devastated East African country following a war that erupted in late December is made up of a remarkable number of former Ottawa and Toronto residents. "Tim Hortons coffee, I like it," said Abdullahi Ahmed Afrah, the Minister of Trade, a Somali-Canadian economist who returned to Mogadishu to help turn around his disastrous homeland The Minister is one of 18 Somali Members of Parliament who are also Canadian citizens. Four members of the Cabinet are Canadians: the ministers of education, information, wildlife and trade. The deputy ministers of agriculture and energy are also Canadians. President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed is not a Canadian citizen, but his wife and children are, and so is the powerful President of Puntland state, General Ade Muse Hirsi. In interviews, a pair of Canadian ministers installed in the fledgling government said that while they are grateful to Canada for giving them refuge, they could not resist the pull of the homeland. "We could not forget," Mr. Afrah said. "We owed something to this country." The fighting that erupted between Mogadishu's warlords in 1991 drove hundreds of thousands of Somalis into exile. They fled to the United Kingdom, the Unites States, Sweden, Holland and such neighbouring countries as Kenya. Canada now has one of the world's largest Somali communities. A former professor, Mr. Afrah came to Canada in 1995 and worked as a small business consultant, but he said he felt compelled to make the long journey home. When a peace process started in Nairobi in 2002, he travelled back and forth and was chosen to be part of the transitional parliament inaugurated two years later. Canada gave Somali refugees the opportunity to get away from the violence, and to study, the Trade Minister said. "That's why you find so many Somali-Canadians in Parliament, because of the degrees and expertise, the knowledge they got in Canada." Most of the Minister's 10 children remain in Ottawa. One daughter is a social worker, another two are studying at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa. At his residence in Mogadishu, the Minister opened his wallet to show his Ontario health card and driver's licence. "Many of us came back," said Information Minister Ali Ahmed Jama, who left Ottawa to join the new transitional government. "We have been selected by our clans to join the Parliament." A former diplomat, Mr. Jama was abroad when the Somali government collapsed in 1991. He made his way to Canada, where he worked as an interpreter. But he made trips back to Africa and after a decade in Canada decided it was time to give Somalia another chance. "I found that the country needed some outside input," the Minister said. He moved back, but his children remain in Canada--one in Calgary and the other at the University of Ottawa. The interim government headed by President Yusuf took office in 2004 but lacked true authority until Somali forces, backed by Ethiopia, advanced last month and retook Somalia from the Islamic militants who had seized on the power void in Mogadishu to Talibanize the country. Now Somalia has a government for the first time in more than a decade, and it is made up largely of dual nationals. Hussein Aideed, a former U.S. Marine from California and the son of assassinated warlord Mohamed Farah Aideed, is the Deputy Prime Minister. "There are some Somali-Dutch, there are Somali-British MPs and ministers also. There are some from Norway, Sweden," Mr. Afrah said. "All the intellectual people, they immigrated during the 14 years of civil war." This reverse migration has benefited not only the interim government but also its main foe, the Islamic Courts Union. A former Toronto businessman is a senior leader of the hardline Islamist group, and Somali-Canadians are believed to have been recruited into the Islamist militia called the Shabab. This week, Deputy Prime Minister Aideed said Somali- Canadian Islamist fighters were among those killed in fighting with Somali and Ethiopian troops in December. But the foreign jihadists who came to Somalia to fight what they thought was a holy war are almost certainly outnumbered by those who want to build a modern nation out of the ruins. And they are bringing with them their experiences with Western democracy and rule of law, values that will help guide Somalia in the years ahead, Mr. Jama said. For those used to the Canadian lifestyle, it is not an easy adjustment. "They are willing to return, even the youngest that have gotten their degrees in Canada. Many of them, they are proud of coming back to Somalia," Mr. Afrah said. "The problem for them is they have become accustomed to Canada. They went there when they were five or six. Now they are 21, 22. They fear for their lives." Source: National Post, Jan 20, 2007 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
