Kanadensiska National Post berättar om hur unga exil-somalier från bl a Sverige strömmar
till Somalia för att ta värvning i islamistiska
terrorgruppen Al Shabaab:
Beginning in late 2007, dozens of young men of Somali
descent started disappearing from diaspora communities
in the West. It turned out they were returning to Somalia
to train in Shabaab camps or to take up arms against
Shabaab’s enemies within the country.
**
Islamists of non-Somali descent were also travelling
there to join Shabaab.This phenomenon has been repeating
itself in a number of countries. Canadian government
sources claim that 20 to 30 Canadians have joined
Shabaab — a development that public safety minister
Peter Van Loan has said “alarmed” him.
In the U.S., the disappearances have primarily clustered
around Minneapolis-St. Paul, but there are credible
reports of disappearances in other U.S. cities with
large Somali populations as well.
**
The Times of London reports that British security
The Times of London reports that British security
services believe “[d]ozens of Islamic extremists have
returned to Britain from terror training camps in
Somalia.” SAPO, Sweden’s security service, believes
that about 20 people have left that country to join
Shabaab. And Australian authorities think as many
as 40 Somali refugees may have gone from Australia
to Somalia to liaise with Shabaab.
**
Many factors cause young men in the West to join
Many factors cause young men in the West to join
Somali Islamist movements. For one, the Somali
diaspora is less integrated than other immigrant
communities; this can lead to disaffection and the
development of a mythologized sense of homeland,
leaving newcomers especially vulnerable to recruitment.
There is also a political dimension to support for
There is also a political dimension to support for
Shabaab. In March 2009 U.S. Senate testimony,
Professor Ken Menkhaus noted that Shabaab thrives
on the “complex cocktail of nationalist, Islamist, anti-
Ethiopian, anti-Western, anti-foreigner sentiments”
that resulted from Ethiopia’s December 2006 invasion
of Somalia.
**
Of course, there’s a religious aspect too. American
Of course, there’s a religious aspect too. American
convert Daniel Maldonado, who pleaded guilty in
April 2007 to receiving training from a foreign terrorist
organization, told U.S. authorities that when he decided
to travel to Somalia, it was to fight jihad — something
he described in religious terms as “raising the word of
Allah, uppermost, by speaking and fighting against all
those who are against the Islamic State.”
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