Category: Europe

Minneapolis Somalis not as mentally troubled as those in London

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

You (in Minneapolis) can breath a sigh of relief knowing the results of this study. Conversely, if you are one of our 600 plus readers from the UK during the last month, this is very bad news indeed.   Since Somali unemployment in Minneapolis is only 26% (compared to London’s 90%), the Somali population here doesn’t have as much mental illness.

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Somali immigrants to the U.K. and U.S. appear to integrate better and have fewer mental health problems if they are allowed to work and they receive practical support during the first few years of their time in the new country, according to a study led by researchers at Queen Mary, University of London and published in BioMed Central Public Health.

The study investigated the experiences of Somalis living in London and Minneapolis. After adjusting for various factors such as age, sex and marital status, the researchers found that Somalis in London were six times more likely to suffer from major depression and four times more likely to have a psychological disorder than those who lived in Minneapolis.

Most of the 189 survey respondents and 47 focus group participants had a shared history of displacement and similar immigration experiences. Like the Olympic Gold medal athlete, Mo Farah, they came to the U.K. or U.S. fleeing violence and human rights abuses in Somalia. However, 90 percent were unemployed in London, compared to 26 per cent in Minneapolis; 98 per cent had obtained refugee status or citizenship in Minneapolis compared to 83 per cent in London.

Update:  Here is more on the same story I just found after posting.

US refugee program attracting Somalis to Malta

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been reporting this same story for years and making this very point, but now Maltese media is saying the same thing.  In hopes of getting a ticket to the US, more Somalis are coming ashore in Malta.

Here is just the latest story about the SINGLE ADULT MEN on the way to your town at this very moment.

From the Malta Star:

Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) personnel involved in search and rescue operations involving irregular migrants say that while most of the migrants who arrive in Malta usually want to reach Italy, they have noticed a new trend that Somalis are heading for Malta hoping that from here they would be sent to the United States through the US Refugee Settlement Program (USRRP).

[…..]

On Wednesday 12 persons from Somalia and Eritrea all of whom are single adult men granted subsidiary protection in Malta left to start a new life in the United States, under the USRRP.

[…..]

245 migrants have been resettled from Malta to the United States of America since the beginning of 2012. More beneficiaries of international protection are expected to leave to the United States in the coming weeks.

Bush ambassador to Malta, Molly Bordonaro, started the trend in  2008 (or at least that is when we learned of it) and it continues today.  These men are illegal aliens and economic migrants magically transformed into “refugees.”

Somalis from Denmark tour Minneapolis to see how America does it…

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

…..how we make Somalis feel welcome.

From the Copenhagen Post:

MINNEAPOLIS — A delegation of six young Somali Danes, two Swedes and one Norwegian visited the American city of Minneapolis last week to break bread with their Somali immigrant counterparts and learn how this city has integrated them into civic and economic life. Minneapolis boasts the largest Somali population outside of Africa and became a haven for them when the country broke into civil war in the early 1990s.

The exchange was initiated by the American ambassador to Denmark, Laurie S Fulton,*** in conjunction with the Danish Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration. Fulton said that young Somalis have trouble feeling accepted into Danish society and a recent trip she took to Minnesota inspired her to initiate the programme.

“Danish integration minister Karen Hækkerup hosted a workshop several months ago for Somali Danes; I offered to host a reception that Karen attended and that’s how we talked about trying to get them together,” Fulton said. “One of the many common issues that Denmark and the US share is helping the Somali immigrants that come to our nations become successful citizens. And who in the US is doing the best job at helping the Somalis feel welcome, learn how to become Americans and be happy? It’s Minneapolis.”

Minneapolis’ thriving Cedar-Riverside neighbourhood, on the banks of the Mississippi River, is home to many of the estimated 30,000 Somali Minnesotans and was the ideal setting from which to draw inspiration.

New readers:

Search RRW for “Cedar Riverside” for more information on the neighborhood.  Remember that most of the Somali youths who left the US for jihad training a few years back were raised here.  You could start your education with this post, Why so many Somalis in Minneapolis? which is one of our top posts here almost every day.  And, then there is the ever popular post still after four years–-How did we get so many Somalis?

Just for fun I searched RRW for Somalis Denmark and the list of problems is long—includes immigration fraud/human smuggling, terror arrests, refugee youths joining Al Shabaab, khat chewing and more….

***And don’t miss Laurie Fulton’s bio!   Fulton was a major bundler for Obama and the first wife of former Senator Tom Daschle!  Kind of reminds me of Molly, ambassador to Malta during the Bush years, who figured out how to get more Somalis from Malta to the US.

Sweden expecting 17,000 Syrians to arrive seeking asylum this year and next

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

It looks like those Djiboutians getting into Sweden are going to have some competition as Syrians are arriving in increasing numbers into the welcoming arms of the Swedish welfare system (where the “living is easy!”).   Meanwhile there are still reports, but I’m not sure if it isn’t old news, that Iraqis (mostly Kurds) are being deported from Sweden.

Europe is bracing for the anticipated Syrian tide, from Reuters:

(Reuters) – Ali Jamal travelled thousands of miles on foot, by train and road to flee violence in Syria while Jomaah piled his family into a camper van to smuggle them north to Europe.

They have now reached safety in Sweden, some of the growing thousands of Syrians who are evading the European Union’s frontier controls to escape the turmoil of the past 18 months.

That is raising calls for a more focused European response to a refugee crisis that has seen over 200,000 Syrians flee to Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and, especially, Turkey. From there, a determined, and usually richer, few press on to the EU borders, mainly into Greece, with most hoping for asylum further north.

Sweden alone, 2,500 km (1,500 miles) from Turkey’s European frontier, is expecting 17,000 Syrians to show up seeking refuge this year and next, reflecting a sharply rising trend across the continent; barely a tenth of that number reached Sweden in the first half of this year – itself a marked increase on 2011.

Don’t you wonder how long the Swedish taxpayer can afford all this?

While the numbers are still small, whether compared to Syria’s population of over 20 million or to the EU’s 500 million, the move to flight has placed strains on all concerned.

Sweden has had to improvise accommodation. In the case of Jamal and Jomaah that is a hostel normally used by tourists near Kopingebro, on the south coast. Many have moved into picturesque red cottages on an island campsite, which opened last week.

Syrians became the third largest group of asylum seekers in Sweden after Somalis and Afghans at 1,855 in the period from January to July, compared to 303 in the same period last year.

Read it all.

Sweden! One Djiboutian to another, come on over—the living is easy!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

You don’t even have to work!

This is another diversity is beautiful report, from Mareeg a Somali on-line news outfit:

According to new report from community organisations in värmland county,85% of new asylum seekers are from Djibouti and Somaliland.

A local Somali source who refused to be named citing security concerns said that, a new wave of Djibouti started to flock to Sweden starting from 2007, this year its estimated that more than 7000 Djiboutians sought asylum in Sweden by falsely claiming that they’re from southern parts of Somalia, particularly lower and middle shabelle regions.

This has led to major problems in the refugee accommodation centers due to the sharp differences in cultures and traditions between Somalis and Djibouti.

Violence occurred due to those sharp language and cultural differences!

Early this year,a Somali teenager from Mogadishu was fatally stabbed in värmland by a man from Djibouti after the teenager insisted that ,the Djiboutian should drink and smoke cannabis outside their shared apartment at refugee accommodation Centre, other violent incidents occurred as result of such misunderstanding and sharp cultural and language differences between the two groups.

According to Eric L, a Swedish social worker in värmland,scores of French speaking Somalis have been noticed in the county which caused major confusion and surprise, since speaking French is uncommon among Somalis from Somalia [but, is the predominant language in Djibouti—ed]. He argued that personally he has been working with Somalis in Sweden for the past fifteen years and never came across such numbers of French speaking Somalis.

Summertime, wintertime, anytime and the livin’ is easy!  Africans! Come one and all to Sweden!

 A Djiboutian who refused to be named in fear of reprisals from his fellow country men, said that he left Djibouti on May this year, and came to Sweden via France. There is no work in Djibouti, corruption is rampant, and its hard to put food on the table there, Life in Sweden is very easy and getting papers is more easier, you don’t even have to work to put food on the table, i advised all my friends and relatives to come here, most of them are on the way, five already arrived and sought asylum, two already managed to get Permanent residence permit (PUT).

Ah, Sweden, that multicultural mecca and its grand experiment with free living for one and all—how is that workin’ out for you now?