Omaar warns of Africans’ alienation

Times Online

RAGEH OMAAR, 38, the son of a wealthy businessman, was born in Mogadishu, Somalia and moved to the UK at the age of six as the country collapsed into civil war.
He spent a decade reporting on the Muslim world to a western audience, and became a household name with his dispatches from Iraq for the BBC. Since leaving the corporation to work for Arab satellite news station Al-Jazeera, he has started examining the reality of life for British Muslims.

He said: “A massive crisis is developing within the Somali community about not knowing what their children get up to and it has once again been brought into focus under tragic circumstances.

“There are many issues at play. Within the family, there are huge problems from top to bottom — poverty, cultural alienation, getting into fights, academic failure and a total lack of parental guidance.”

Omaar, who has become a rare success for Somalis in Britain, said: “There are hardly any male role models and therefore very little male discipline.

“Kids as young as 10 go out at midnight and stay out all night. They stick together because they feel alienated and distanced from other teenagers and minorities. The fact that they are Muslim has increased this in recent years.

“A lot of Somali children have grown up under war and conflict and they are very, very tough as a result. Their survival instincts are extremely strong and that manifests itself in scenarios in schools where they might drop out or join gangs.”

He added: “There is very little follow up at home in terms of academic guidance and support and they are struggling to become more culturally in-tune in Britain and learn the language. Vast numbers of Somali children are dropping out of schools.

“Knife culture is not part and parcel of the Somali culture. But it is mimicking what is happening in the wider community. If they notice other kids are carrying knives they will too.

“This is partly an element of teenage culture, but if they are getting in fights, being picked on by other Afro-Caribbean or Asian gangs, then they will carry knives as they are desperate to protect themselves.”
Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Ltd.