A NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA COUNTY REMOVED A SOMALI MOTHER’S KIDS. SOMALIS WANT TO KNOW WHY.

General Asad

And What Is Not There Is Always More Than There.
Somalis in Minnesota and the world are watching the case of an East Grand Forks mother whose children were removed by child protective services. Somali community members believe she’s being treated unfairly, but the facts are not black and white.

CROOKSTON, Minn. — More than 100 Somali people packed the hallways of the Polk County Courthouse Monday, praying and then pressing officials to explain why the six children of a Somali mother had been taken away from her.



Nimo Khalif, 33, a widow who came to America from a refugee camp in Kenya in late 2014, had been raising the children ages 10 months to 16 years alone in East Grand Forks. Suddenly, the kids were in the custody of Polk County child protective services.



A distraught Nimo posted a video pleading in Somali for help. She said she wasn’t told why the children, ages 10 months to 16 years old, were removed and didn’t know what to do. Later, she would describe it as a “kidnapping.”



The Somali community across Minnesota responded. The widely shared video helped deliver supporters to the courthouse Monday, including many who drove nearly five hours from the Twin Cities.



They left without answers. It turns out the case is more complicated than those responding to Nimo’s pleas might have realized. While concerns remain in the Somali community that Nimo’s being treated differently because she’s Somali, the facts are not yet black and white.
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‘Possible child abuse’
It began when one of Nimo’s daughters allegedly told a teacher in an email that she did not feel safe at home and was afraid to live with her mother.



Schools are required to report any suspected cases of abuse, so the East Grand Forks police were brought in. A school resource officer from the department began investigating in mid-January, and then got the county’s social services department involved.



“We had reports of possible child abuse and neglect,” police chief Michael Hedlund told Sahan Journal. After interviewing the children, “a joint decision between social services and our officers were that it was in the best interest of the children that they be removed at that time.”



On Jan. 22, social services workers and the police came to the schools of Nimo’s school-age children, ages 16 to 6, and took them into protective custody.



Nimo said she did not know where the children were or what had happened. She said she left the 10-month-old baby boy she was breastfeeding with a friend as she searched for the other children.



She said she was summoned to the police department, where she learned what had happened to her school-age children. Nimo said she reluctantly told them where the baby was after being threatened with arrest.



Hedlund said the case is still a police matter, although Nimo has not been arrested or charged with a crime. The chief said authorities would wait for the social services department to complete its investigation before they determine their next step.



“Anytime our social services gets involved, the concern is there’s some issue in that family,” he said. “It could be just a parent-child disagreement.”



That belief — that what’s happening in Polk County may turn out to be a misunderstanding or simple family disagreement — has frustrated her supporters and bred mistrust of the process.



Local authorities appear to be doing their work by the book, but it’s unlikely they’ve been in a situation where a new immigrant community has collectively pushed for more information on a child custody case.



Despite intense interest from the Somali community, Karen Warmack, director of Polk County Social Services, declined to give details about the case.



“I am not able to share any particulars about the case because of any confidentiality or confirm or deny what’s happening,” Warmack said.

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Walahi I tried threatening my mum to call the police once when I was 8, my mum gave me the beating of my life, never talked back since:stressed:
 

NotMyL

"You are your best thing"
VIP
If she has nothing to worry about, she should let them do their investigation if they see no evidence of child abuse they will return the kids, trust me Americans don’t care to keep kids, the system is already full of these type of kids.
 
She had her first kid at 17? Anyways, my first thought was that the daughter must've told officials that there was abuse in the home. I was correct.
 

Dalmoor

Hiatus✅ 1/18/21- ?
VIP
I thought that was mostly a Scandinavian thing despite knowing that CPS will take your kids if you abuse or neglect 'em but I had no idea it happened to American somalis(probably a minnesotan somali thing).

Don't think anyone targeted her cause she was somali...
 

Odkac WRLD

جندي صومال
VIP
Nope I think the kids talked to an outside source about home life (counselor teacher coach or adult figure)
And passed it through the system

I highly doubt she is innocent there is a shit ton of Somali kids in th system rn sadly
 
Smh you can’t even discipline your kids in the west. What are Somalis doing in Northern Minnesota tho, it would’ve been better for her to just rent a cheap crib in the metro where they’ll fit in better. Northern MN is not good for Somalis. If it was actually abusive shit and not typical Somali parental strictness which is likely because this is rare in America and more common in Europe from what I’ve heard.
 

General Asad

And What Is Not There Is Always More Than There.
Smh you can’t even discipline your kids in the west. What are Somalis doing in Northern Minnesota tho, it would’ve been better for her to just rent a cheap crib in the metro where they’ll fit in better. Northern MN is not good for Somalis. If it was actually abusive shit and not typical Somali parental strictness which is likely because this is rare in America and more common in Europe from what I’ve heard.

There are some somalis that live in the middle of nowhere. Weird. But she probably didn't want the buuq that came with the city life.

This wouldn't have happened if there were somalis around her, I agree.
 
We need to talk more about mental health in the Somali community. This mother clearly loves her kids but it must be hard raising six kids on your own. She probably scared one of the kids and they ended up telling their teacher. There is literally no support system in Somali community for single mums. I once remember hearing a story of a hooyo who committed suicide. We need to do better.
 

General Asad

And What Is Not There Is Always More Than There.
We need to talk more about mental health in the Somali community. This mother clearly loves her kids but it must be hard raising six kids on your own. She probably scared one of the kids and they ended up telling their teacher. There is literally no support system in Somali community for single mums. I once remember hearing a story of a hooyo who committed suicide. We need to do better.

Change will happen when people in our community start to care about the women and the children.
 

Mercury

Ha igu daalinee dantaada raac
VIP
Smh you can’t even discipline your kids in the west. What are Somalis doing in Northern Minnesota tho, it would’ve been better for her to just rent a cheap crib in the metro where they’ll fit in better. Northern MN is not good for Somalis. If it was actually abusive shit and not typical Somali parental strictness which is likely because this is rare in America and more common in Europe from what I’ve heard.
you can discipline your kids without beating them or making threats
 
I feel like alot of Somalis just have kids, and don't even think about all that comes with raising them. This isn't Somalia where the "village raises your kids" mentality is prevalent. Everyone who decides to have children must know that you are on your own. So, have as many kids as you know you can handle. Everyone's number is different.
 
Lots of Somali parents are unfit to raise children. We need to discuss this instead of assuming CPS is the boogeyman. In Scandinavia, sure but not in the US.
 
you can discipline your kids without beating them or making threats
Yeah but a little pinching and slapping here and there shouldn’t be the reason gaalo take your flesh and blood away from you. We don’t know what happened in this case and it sounds extremely fishy.
 

Mercury

Ha igu daalinee dantaada raac
VIP
Yeah but a little pinching and slapping here and there shouldn’t be the reason gaalo take your flesh and blood away from you. We don’t know what happened in this case and it sounds extremely fishy.

If you slap youre kid they still gonna count it as child abuse

More somalis should enroll in parenting classes
 
If you slap youre kid they still gonna count it as child abuse

More somalis should enroll in parenting classes
Somalis kulaha, discipling children that way is done by most parents of every ethnicity you can think of. What are you going to do when your kids (hypothetically speaking of course) disobey you? Give them a chance? What if they do it whatever it is over and over again?
 
Maybe the landwhale should learn to raise her children without beating them.She is probably pushing her anger onto the children since the father left.
 
Somalis kulaha, discipling children that way is done by most parents of every ethnicity you can think of. What are you going to do when your kids (hypothetically speaking of course) disobey you? Give them a chance? What if they do it whatever it is over and over again?
If you beat your kids you are UNFIT to raise them.
 

Xtermix

Soomaali U Diiida Ceeb, Naftiina U Diida Cay
EPbGHMPXsAAZ_Yl


When a child feels so lost and beaten, as to report their own parents, its a serious case. lightly spanking your child is one thing, abuse is different. i think somalis need to understand that somali parents CAN be abusers, and not assume that the child reported them for no reson. this is obviously not a 100% reliable source, but the somali "mother" is also being vague.
 

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