We went to Somalia to look for jobs, not to join Shabaab, youth say

Four years ago, Hussein Ibrahim (not his real name) embarked on a journey from his home in Isiolo to Somalia with hopes of getting a job and changing fortunes for his family.

He had just dropped out of Form Two due to his family’s financial challenges which saw him sent home on several occasions for lack of fees.

The decision to go to Somalia, he says, was to ease the burden on his parents and seek a job to complement their efforts in providing for the family, including his two younger siblings who were in primary school.

Though cagey on how he got to Somalia, Ibrahim who hails from Isiolo North reveals that one of his relatives linked him to a “rich man” who facilitated his movement to the neighbouring country.

“Before deciding on going to Somalia, I tried out boda boda business but it was not sustainable. I was ready to do any kind of work as long as it had good pay,” he says while revealing that he travelled together with some other young men whom he didn’t know previously.

“I was informed of the day we would leave (for Somalia) and I was picked about 30 kilometres from home. We were eight in total and travelled in a Land Cruiser.”

Phones taken away

Before embarking on the over 1,000-kilometre journey that started around 7pm, they were all ordered to hand over their mobile phones, whose sim cards were destroyed and handsets retained.

Contrary to expectation, the promised jobs were not easy to come by in Somalia, forcing Ibrahim to resort to casual jobs.

“Without an alternative, I was forced to work as a house help in one of the homes on the outskirts of Hargeysa town to at least get food and earn some little pay, just enough to take care of some of my bills,” Ibrahim says.

He at one point almost got lured by some of his friends into joining terror groups but he was not ready to take the risk, he reveals.

“I almost got radicalised after some of those we travelled with were recruited into terror groups over desperation,” he recalls.

Barely a year-and-a-half later, he travelled back to Kenya after failing to secure a stable job but to his surprise, his comeback would subject him to a lot of suffering.

Kept low profile

His distraught parents advised him to keep a low profile as majority of their neighbours believed he had joined Al-Shabaab and could have alerted authorities if they spotted him.

“I never got out of our home compound for a whole year for fear of getting arrested. On rare occasions, I sneaked out at night but was very cautious not to be identified by neighbours. My siblings were also warned against telling people I had returned,” he reveals.

In neighbouring Bulapesa Ward, Hassan Waqo (also not his real name), who returned from Somalia back to Isiolo in November 2020, has been living in fear.

Unlike Ibrahim case, when Waqo left for Somalia on a job seeking mission, he was offered the option of joining Al-Shabaab, and he gladly accepted it. But he did not last long in the training.

“We were taken to some training sites while blindfolded and taught how to shoot among other combat skills. We would also frequently be fed with materials encouraging us to strive and fight,” he told Nation.Africa.

Escaped

But after undergoing the training for two months, he decided to attempt the unthinkable — run from the training site and find his way back home.

“The training was very rigorous. It dawned on me that I was slowly developing into a monster and was risking my life for involving myself in the (terrorists’) activities,” he said.

While he refused to reveal how he escaped from the site, Waqo only said that one of his friends assisted him to flee and that “the rest is history”.

“I am grateful to God I survived. I was forced to (on arrival in Isiolo) avoid a lot of movement and interactions in order not to raise the alarm and face legal action,” he noted.

Like Ibrahim, Waqo too struggled to integrate back into the community and took a lot of time before he started appearing in public.

“Majority of the people believe anyone who goes to Somalia joins Al-Shabaab which is not always the case,” Mr Ibrahim said.

Aware of the challenges that returnees from Somalia and women whose sons are yet to return home continue to go through, a local community organisation, the Isiolo Peace Initiative (IPI), is carrying out sensitisation programmes targeting several actors among them the youth.

Due to lack of jobs, majority of the young people are easily lured into getting recruited into terror groups.

Reintegration

Mr Ibrahim and Mr Waqo are among those who have been assisted by local organisations reintegrate back into the community.

Crucial to Isiolo Peace Initiative is the need to change the misconception of Islamic “Jihad” narrative which has been misinterpreted to justify and encourage resistance and liberation struggles, extremism and terrorism activities.

Jihad refers to any effort to make one’s life conform to God’s guidance.

Besides their semi-monthly community workshops targeting 100 residents influential in the society, the team also undertakes outreach programmes in public spaces such as worship centres.

The trained residents are made ambassadors and help in the dissemination of information to the villages.

Sheikh Dabaso Ali and Sheikh Jibril are among the religious leaders who have been carrying out training programmes in mosques every Friday against radicalisation which is not linked to Islam.

“We have been making good progress but the information must be repeatedly shared so that our people understand that terrorism is not in any way linked to Islamic teachings,” Sheikh Ali says.

“Our young people need to know that killing one person is like killing all the people in the world.”

Psychosocial support

IPI Secretary Abdi Guyo says they have also been offering psychosocial support to the returnees and affected families to enable them reintegrate back into the community.

“We have created a support network for them to enable them beat the stigma and feel part of the community. We have also been empowering talented youth to earn from their knack and keep off idleness,” Mr Guyo said.

Majority of the returnees and their families face a lot of hostility as locals are largely uncomfortable with them, putting them at a high risk of being victimised by authorities as they are branded criminals.

This, Mr Guyo says, makes many of the returnees refuse to share their stories for fear of being arrested and treated like criminals.

“We have created a soft line approach for them to open up and share their experiences. This will help others come out and share their stories,” he notes.

The organisation has for the last four years reached 8,000 people with anti-violent extremism messages and put close to 10 returnees and 20 mothers under the support network.

Mr Guyo says parents must take full responsibility for their children and monitor their activities to ensure they do not indulge in criminal activities.

“Chasing them away from home and not being mindful of their company makes them an easy target for recruiters,” Mr Guyo said.

Not doing enough

Several actors in the fight against radicalisation said the government is not doing enough to end the menace in the region.

“The government has intelligence and knows what goes on around and if we get massive support from its organs, we can stop violent extremism,” an official of one of the organisations said, adding that there is a huge disconnect between the county and national governments in the fight.

Isiolo is reported to be among the transit counties where terrorists hide prior to staging attacks in other parts of the country.

The terrorists will, during their stay, list unemployed youth, dropouts and those fresh from secondary schools, who are then facilitated to travel to Somalia for recruitment and trainings.

Mostly, they seek local jobs as they acquit themselves with the area and mingle with residents in order not to attract any suspicion from the public or the police.    BY DAILY NATION