Every day I can count on checking the news and finding a new story about the Somali missing youths and terrorism. This morning it is being reported by the Calgary Herald that one of Canada’s missing former refugees has been arrested in Somalia. It was only ten days ago we reported that a mosque leader in Canada was denying any Canadian Somalis had returned to Africa for terrorist training. Guess he was wrong.
TORONTO — A Canadian has been arrested in Somalia for allegedly planning to bomb leaders of a moderate political faction, according to local media reports that identified him as a member of the militant group Al-Shabab.
Abdifatah Mohamad Ibrahim appeared in court in the central Galgudud region, where authorities showed his Canadian passport to spectators, according to Radio Garowe and the Somali-language news site allpuntland.com.
As I read this, I wonder what it costs Canada (and us) to raise a young African refugee with food, health care and education just for him to grow up and go to Africa to become a jihadist.
Consular assistance to Canadians in distress!
And, golly gee, Canadian officials are wondering how they might provide “consular assistance” to their citizen.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was not aware of any recent arrests of Canadian citizens in Somalia but Ottawa has no diplomatic presence in the country. Consular officials in Nairobi were seeking further information on the matter.
“Due to the highly volatile and unpredictable nature of the security situation in Somalia, the government of Canada’s ability to provide consular assistance to Canadians in distress is severely restricted,” said Daniel Barbarie, a Foreign Affairs spokesman.
But, Canada, don’t worry it’s only a handful of extremists.
Canada is home to about 150,000 ethnic Somalis, according to a report by Canada’s Integrated Threat Assessment Centre. Most are moderates but the report says that, “Some Somali-Canadians have fought as Islamist extremists in Somalia.”