Why do you guys stay there if you’re hated so much and in constant danger? Why South Africa and not go to Uganda or Nigeria or Tanzania??
@Rastavelli-67
It's basically the same side of the coin , the only difference is that Somalis will have even more unprecedented problems remember we don't have a functioning government our passports are as valueless as the Shillings , anywhere they set their foot are considered to be illegal aliens and it's not easy to live and thrife in these respective countries.
Only those with western passports, Kenyan travel documents were able to atleast live in countries like Uganda and Tanzania but they are a minority , remember this there are hundreds of refugees being apprehended all the time sent to
a prison in Dar Es Salaam for illegal entry and do you know what the stakes are when you travel without documents you can be held against your will for many years and forgotten.
Those lucky enough to have documents live in constant hell , whether it's Tanzania or Kampala , they're reminded they're not wanted.
its the same side of the coin for Somali refugees be it South Africa or East Africa .
As for Nigeria , the census of Somalis living there are in smaller numbers and exactly equivalent to what a population of small village in Somalia.
Nigerians are neither fond of Somalis , just put that in mind , if they mistreat Beninese , Cameroonian and Ghanaian merchants crossing the border and commercing in Lagos , what do you think would happen to Somalis especially to asylum seekers!
And why do people think Somalis have it the best, when it comes to being capably to easily travel to different countries within Africa , dissolving borders , infact when you hear stories of families gathering ransom money to pay police/officials/immigration officers , the release of their loved ones locked up in Luanda, Angola , Sudan , Congo , Namibia , Senegal, Zambia and many more countries.
In other words it's almost and practically difficult for refugees anywhere, many gamble their lives here too.
Back home they were contended to live in poverty , I'm talking about the rural people , but they saw larger numbers of diasporans flexing and flaunting their wealth , building villas , driving land rovers and these young unemployed youth witness old men with a briefcase marrying younger women , it angered them why they were born into such fucked up cycle , they see through the lenses of these people hence they see it as aspiring to go all in and risk their lives .
That's is just one factor.
There are 101 complexed reasons for leaving Somalia
(excluding land grabbings, extortion, torture and framing of young men by the corrupt government, the countless raids on young men in their sleep by the soldiers which led to their disappearance and their bereaved families still await answers years later , they cannot fully mourn and thus it becomes a difficult process to look for closure they only get half the answers , the suicide bombings on innocent civilians, the murders of innocent bystanders , killing of innocent school children and university graduates, small time shop owners getting assassinated for no aparrent reason, the rape of minors the victims are both boys and girls hailing from minority clans, the random nabbing of random passerby civilians to end up inside a trunk and tortured in Xalane then forced to make a confession to crimes they have not committed and later paraded onto National Television and their execution broadcasted public , this sort of activities are in favour of those in power.
The rival clan ambushes, the random bullets and shrapnels landing at houses , the unexplained phenomenon of senseless killings, being threatened , harrassed , looted , isbaaro , clan fueled killers evicting people from their houses, land and plot disputes which results to life threatening situation, there are many reasons why there is a mass exodus , hence this should be a separate topic).
Somalis flee anywhere around the world for safety, they just happened to find themselves in South Africa feeling yet again unsafe but their lives would once again be in jeopardy if they were to return to Somalia.
I have always contemplated alternative question , to fuel my curiosity I asked myself this question what would have changed about my life if I had remained in the country during the second phase of the civil war , what destiny was awaiting for me , would I have joined the undocumented massacred people buried in unknown mass graves or get coerced into becoming a child soldier like the many 9 years old at the time , even if I had survived the vicious wars would I even be alive writing to you in this present day , I highly doubt it.
I have asked people that are older than age range this question , what were the reasons of leaving Somalia , there was a moment of silence , they looked below their shoes and one elderly adeer was unable to finish his tea , they had contrasting answers , their body languages and facial expressions is self explanatory with what they've been through.
I have once again asked them is Xenophobia in contrast or in parallel to what they had encountered in Somalia like the killings , shootings and bombings , where did they sustain the scars they beared was it here or in Somalia , one replied both and the others said mostly in Somalia.
They replied it's all the same side of the coin, South Africa is as bad as Somalia and Somalia can be more worse and the problems won't vanish right away in this lifetime , one of the men I was questioning survived the Shaamo hotel attack that took place in 2009 he was among the postgraduate doctors , he said he still recalls what happened at the ceremonial event and the disaster that had later ensued , now he's in a walking cane , working 9-5 at a store and said he was going to work in Martini hospital in Kaasobalbalasre as a surgeon after graduation , he later added that his life is ruined.
I asked the same question to an asylum seeker living in the townships he was local farmer who refused to pay taxes and declined to offer his daughter to foreign AS fighters , he was ruled out as an apostate and a bounty placed on his head, he then sought refuge along with his family to a government controlled city , he was blindfolded and paraded to a holding cell , he was electrocuted and his teeth was taken out by pliers , but why was this happening what has he done wrong to deserve such mistreatment , are they not very same government soldiers that this civilian and his family sought shelter to , his female relatives were separated and taken to an undisclosed location , they were raped by SNA soldiers and later on by Amisom soldiers they joined in , his daughter's mutilated body was discovered disposed in the sewers , he was released with no evidence linking to the terrorist organisation and he was told to keep his mouth shut about what had happened to his daughter.
He had to flee , there wasn't any alternatives.
Another man with a disfigured face lived and worked in another area he has also survived an ambush from a rivil clan , he was a loader(gaari gacan , kaaryoone, xamaali) for a living it is said he fell in love with a woman from a larger clan , they had an affair for a long time , it was time that he wanted to mehr her, the problem was that he didn't come from a marginalised clan but his people were consider to be unworthy by the majority of the inhabitants , it is said the very same night they engaged and married , they were attacked , he survived but is scarred for life.
There several stories of people of why leaving Somalia and each individuals stories differs.
There are many stories that is related to this.