Community Life

This year’s Somali Week celebrations in Tower Hamlets have included music and fashion events, as well as discussions. The focus of debate has been the challenges facing young Somalis, who are trying to build an independent identity in Britain.

Many are refugees from war so they face the multiple dilemmas of coping with the emotional and social transitions, as well as barriers in education and employment.

Somalis are the second largest ethnic group in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Councillor Ahmed Omer (Labour, Bow East), the only Somali Councillor in Tower Hamlets, says that more data needs to be collected about the community.

According to Cllr Omer, the last survey of Somalis working in the council was conducted in 1994 and revealed that less than half a percent of all council workers in Tower Hamlets were Somali.

He says: “It could improve but the council is going in the right direction. There’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Abdifataah Taabar

Muslim, Black, Arab, African, or all the above?

Somalia and Somaliland lie on the North-Eastern coast of Africa, and Islam is the major religion in the region. For Somalis in the London, this has meant being part of two different communities.

Black Britons have a much longer and established history in London than most Somalis and have sometimes been slow to absorb the Somali community. Meanwhile, the vast majority of Muslims in Tower Hamlets are Bangladeshi and speak a different language.

Khat it out!

Khat is a leaf that has been chewed in parts of east Africa for more than 500 years. It contains Cathine and Cathinone, chemicals with similar properties to Amphetamines. Khat is legal in the UK, but illegal in parts of Europe, the US and Canada.

In Somalia, khat is usually chewed in social situations, but a 2005 Home Office survey of 207 Somali people in the UK revealed 64% admitted to using khat on a daily basis. Most worryingly, khat use is becoming increasingly prevalent among young Somali males in Tower Hamlets. It is readily available at numerous ‘khat houses’ scattered across the borough.

Success stories

Somali Week included celebrations of Somalis who have become successful role models for young people. Ayaan Gulaid, a drug abuse worker in Mile End, is trying to change attitudes about khat in her community.

During Somali Week, the New Somali Sound was also launched - a group of musicians and singers promoting Somali music to the world.

Click on the link on the right to view the report by Newham and Tower Hamlets reporter, Angela Saini.