Paragon

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  5. Posted

    Michael Palin's hand of friendship gives asylum seekers a human faceFormer Python star has shown us the world beyond our shores but after forging a bond with a 26-year-old Somali refugee he hopes to open our eyes to problems much closer to home

     

     

    Jamie Doward The Observer, Sunday 22 November 2009

     

     

    They make for an odd couple. One is an epoch-defining comedian, not to mention a popular explorer and best-selling author who is fast approaching heritage-listed status. The other is a near-anonymous Somali refugee who fled his war-ravaged country and arrived in Britain knowing no one and barely able to speak English.

     

    And yet since they were first introduced, Michael Palin and Musa Ibrahim have formed a friendship that spans continents, cultures and generations. It is a friendship that might have remained in the shadows, of quiet satisfaction to the two men alone. But they hope that, by talking about how they met and how their understanding of each other has grown, they will challenge the way society sees its least known but most controversial member: the asylum seeker.

     

    Last week Palin, 66, interviewed 26-year-old Ibrahim in front of an audience comprised of leading luminaries from the Royal Geographical Society. Palin assumed the role of a Phileas Fogg for the 21st century, reporting back not from his exotic experiences abroad but from the hinterland of Britain's inner cities, the council estates where many asylum seekers are to be found. The way Palin sees it, the conversation was merely an extension of his travel series, another form of ethnography that fascinates the British psyche. "Once you reduce things to an individual story, it's something we can all respond to," Palin said. "That's what I felt was important about talking to Musa, to carry on what I have done on my travels, to find an individual and talk to them about anything."

     

    Anything? Yes, says Palin, who, drawing on his experiences of making friends when circumnavigating the globe, believes it is the small talk that is important when trying to connect with others. "You don't ask people about the immigration policies of the UK or their country's agricultural policy," he said. "Instead you talk to them about the meal they're eating or their family and from that you get the sense of another human being, someone we can all relate to."

     

    It was this idea of forging common bonds between strangers that saw the two men meet. As an asylum seeker, Ibrahim was prevented from working. But, with time on his hands, he volunteered to help at a Refugee Action awareness project in Bristol, visiting community groups and schools, to share his experiences of the asylum system. The charity hooked him up with Palin, a supporter, during its Simple Acts campaign which inspires individuals to use small, everyday actions to help change society's perceptions of refugees. The refugee taught the Python to say a few words in Somali and Swahili. Palin was, according to his teacher, a good learner. "I used to like him because of the travel programmes," Ibrahim said. "He's a funny, outspoken guy and I felt very comfortable talking to him."

     

    Palin says he gained an insight from the experience. "It was interesting to hear Musa talk about the differences in saying hello to people," Palin recalls. "In England some people he said hello to would say 'hello' back and then move on; in some cases people looked at him askance and moved on, which is very sad. But in an African country, Musa said, people will say hello and ask 'how is your father, how is your daughter-in law, how is your donkey?' I've seen that when travelling; it's an important ritual and to suddenly find that ritual cut off must add to the feeling of alienation he felt when he first came here."

     

    It is, Ibrahim concedes, difficult for many indigenous people to understand this sense of alienation that confronts the asylum seeker or indeed the motivations and deprivations that drive them to enter a foreign country seeking refuge.

     

    In Ibrahim's case, his family paid an agent to get him out of a refugee camp in Kenya. But once in the UK he was on his own. Life was grim. His support was withdrawn while he was awaiting his appeal and he lived on vouchers. With no money, little emotional support and stuck in legal limbo, simple things like forging relationships and making conversation with others became huge challenges. The practice of moving asylum seekers around the country does not help them build lasting relationships.

     

    "I was moved around by the Home Office a lot," Ibrahim said. "I used to live in London, then I was passed to Birmingham and then to Bristol. It's terribly difficult, because the only people I came to know were my fellow asylum seekers."

     

    Palin was startled to learn about the process refugees have to go through to apply for asylum. "There was this Pythonic situation where he was sent to Cardiff one night and told to report to the Home Office the next day, except the interview was in Croydon," Palin said. "So he comes back to London and all of his allowance has been spent on a train ticket and he doesn't know anything about Croydon. But then a Somali guy saw him on the platform and saw that he was in trouble and helped him."

     

    Palin argues it is these small acts of kindness that can make a real difference. "You learn so much about prejudice from individual cases and you realise that individually we are not hostile to each other, it's systems that get in the way."

     

    Last December, Ibrahim was granted asylum after the government accepted that he was a Somalian. He is about to move into a council flat in Bristol where there is a large Somali community with whom he can connect. For a man who fled his native country aged seven it is the opening of a new chapter.

     

    "He came here because he probably would have died, as his father did, in the wars," Palin said. "The camp he was in in Kenya was overcrowded and pretty horrible. The Somalis were disliked by the Kenyans, who thought they were bringing more trouble into Kenya. He got away from that and he comes to the UK, a place he doesn't really know anything about and gets into a situation where he just feels lost and gets very depressed."

     

    It is a familiar narrative, but Ibrahim's story is unusual because it contains hope. Through his volunteer work, he gained a sense of self-esteem. "It was the only way I could get experience," Ibrahim said. "Volunteering opened my eyes, it really helped me."

     

    Palin argues Ibrahim's story "could happen to anybody in any country". As a human interest story it is apolitical and exists outside the debate over the UK's asylum policies. As Palin puts it, Ibrahim's story "transcends whether you are Somali or not – we can all relate to it".

     

    But many people do not want to relate. Fear of others has become a leitmotif for our times. Politicians are vying to outdo each when it comes to sounding tough on immigration. Polls show almost half of white working-class people feel abandoned and many believe migrants are getting favourable treatment. What little is known about asylum seekers and their native countries is often based around stereotypes. As Ibrahim observes wryly: "I want people to know there is more to Somalia than looting and piracy."

     

    Esme Peach, an awareness co-ordinator with Refugee Action, said: "People have these views of asylum seekers and when you speak to them they have never met one. That experience of meeting another human, of having things in common, whether it's a love of Coronation Street or Arsenal, breaks down barriers."

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    +44 (0)20 3353 2000 Advertising guide License/buy our content UK newsImmigration and asylum World newsRefugees · Somalia SocietyMore news Related

    5 Jun 2008Jeremy Sare: Plight of Somali refugees in Britain

    20 Jun 2004Somali refugees flown back to chaos

    14 Jun 2004A fair exchange

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    About this articleClose Michael Palin's hand of friendship gives asylum seekers a human faceThis article appeared on p24 of the News section of the Observer on Sunday 22 November 2009. It was published on guardian.co.uk at 00.05 GMT on Sunday 22 November 2009. Latest from UK newsMost viewed Latest Most commented Last 24 hours

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    http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/nov/22/michael-palin-asylum-seeker-crisis

  7. Posted

    Old story from 2000. I brought it up because a Somali woman actually lamented about Somali men. So I had to search for this story.

     

    --------

     

    Kenyan women storm police station and demand sex

     

    "Our men have turned to vegetables," they say.

    By J.A. Getzlaff

     

    Women from the Kenyan town of Kandara, north of Nairobi, are looking for a few good men. Qualifications? Sober and virile, thank you very much. And they're not just looking -- they're demanding.

     

    According to a Reuters report, a gang of furious ladies from 24 Catholic church groups recently descended upon their local police station and ordered officers to either have sex with them or shut down the illegal drinking dens where the women's spouses spend most of their time.

     

    Their daylong protest took police by surprise and brought business in Kandara to a halt.

     

    The women told the stunned officer in charge to order his men to make love to them or find them new husbands. They blamed the area's illegal bars for their husbands' soggy performance in the sack, and for leaving them sexually frustrated and childless.

     

    "Our men have turned to vegetables," one woman told a local newspaper. "They leave home early and come back intoxicated. There is nobody to meet the sexual needs of wives."

     

    The report did not say how police responded to the women's demands.

     

    source

  10. Posted

    Now Faroole will be truly pissed. He didn't certainly do that. He only stormed out. Amin Amir is now in the list Puntland's most wanted.

     

    I repeat, Faroole didn't summersault. He didn't. He's not that acrobatic. Amin Amir got his facts wrong.

  13. Posted

    Poet schoolgirl only learned English three years ago

    Nov 19 2009 Ealing Gazette

     

     

    eg-uploads-nov25-image-4-854367670.jpg Mariam Hassan, 11

     

    A TALENTED schoolgirl has won the chance to have her poem published, despite only being able to speak English for three years when she wrote it.

     

    Mariam Hassan, 11, beat thousands of entries to be included in the Big Green Poetry Machine which will be published next year.

     

    She wrote the piece, entitled The Cost of Litter, in class last year at Horsenden Primary School in Greenford.

     

    Born in Somalia, Mariam only came to Britain in 2005.

     

    The pupil, of Drew Gardens, Greenford, said: "I was really surprised to be chosen for the book. I didn't expect it at all, it was the first poem I'd ever written."

     

    Elizabeth Walton, headteacher at Horsenden Primary, said: "The school is very proud of Mariam's achievements and we hope her writing will continue to flourish."

     

    Ealing Gazette

  16. Posted

    ^Lol. Kora Tuunshe, waa tan iga yaabisey! Qolyihii waxaa qorey wallee wax baa haysta iyaguna. Several PLanders asked me yesterday about what Allpuntland has written, and it seems magaaladu wey wada maqasheyba. Lol. Tough luck fo Allpuntland.com.

     

    Filinkooda eeyaa cuney. :D

  18. Posted

    The Former Somalia; Facts and Fallacies

    By Abdul Ahmed III

    October 01, 2009

     

     

    ......I am taken aback and amazed by the paranoia being proliferated by some in the name of

    pretentious Somali patriotism and imaginary national unity. One must ask what this

    paranoia is!. What on earth is this Hue and Cry about Nothing? Why would anyone claim

    that my colleagues and I want to divide the former Somalia? Didn’t the Somali people

    themselves do that? It is bewildering to see this over-enthusiastic shriek for attention! -

    That is all it could be! just an unpleasant scream for attention as I explain below.

    In the following paragraphs, I attempt to discuss three relevant issues, (i) Uninformed and

    clumsy analysis of Mr Heebaan and Dr Bahar (ii) The core of the subject and the facts

    that my earlier articles presented (iii) An informative response to the fair critique of Dr

    Musse.

    Abdul Ahmed III's reponse in pdf format

     

    PS: I have been following this debate and it's strange how Abdul Ahmed touches on issues that are strangely similar to mine here in SOL, though I got ostracised for them for speaking of them. Even better Abdul Ahmed III now backs his arguments with evidence, which I no access to currently. I'll have to read this again.

     

    Che, thanks for the topic. Very interesting.

  19. Posted

    Originally posted by Libaax-Sankataabte:

    quote:Originally posted by NASSIR:

    Burtinle-landers are core P-landers.

    loool@ Burtinle-Landers. NASSIR has just coined a new term.
    SOL has become a valuable industry of (Somali) political terminology as of late. smile.gif

  23. Posted

    ^And who says you shant understand a song's meaning? I understand the music can be enough but as far as Somali songs are concerned, knowing the meaning behind is the real bonus.

     

    Aha the second part: Tahliil, the famous singer, has had to deal with the issue of segregation when his wife left him because of his origin, and hence sang the song 'Ugaaso' for her... it's a questioning and lamenting song, especially why should people break up families on the bases of trivial cast categorisation.

     

    It's when you hear the song that you understand what happened when he sent elders to solve the matter and how those elders were badmouthed.