Thank you for inviting me to this event.
I know that this committee is focusing on justice and human rights. In our community, when it comes to justice, we always look to the social issue side.
Today I am speaking on behalf of Alberta's Somali community to share our experience and the nightmare that we have been through and are still going through.
The Somali community left their homeland for fear of persecution, for fear for their lives and the lives of the other members, but the community finds themselves once again in this position: they feel they are back where they came from--from the nightmare of terror, fear, and the reluctance to trust anyone. They feel they are back in Somalia.
The Alberta Somali community is undergoing growing pain relative to being new immigrants in this part of Canada. There are many obstacles preventing full integration of the larger Alberta Somali community. However, the deaths of Canadian men of Somali heritage in Alberta in the last three years have changed our community life forever as we know it as Canadians. We also mourn deeply not only our young men but also the loss of a sense of security as citizens of Canada, the sense that somehow we were protected from this kind of terrible attack. In many ways the impact has been felt even more deeply by many of our members who have been mischaracterized, with our human rights protection eroded, which is central throughout this country.
We are experiencing youth violence and recruitment by organized crime organizations. We are deeply, deeply seeking peace and safety, as are all other communities. Some of my members are saying enough is enough--enough with the victimization, enough with the injustice.
Somehow we feel that we are foreign to our country. We are Albertan. We are Canadian. We feel we are here for the same reason that our ancestors came here, for fear of persecution, for freedom of religion, and so on, yet our community does not experience the core value of being Canadian, which is freedom and justice for all. I am hoping that this committee, at the end of the day, will do something about this.
To give you our brief history here in Alberta, we estimate that the Alberta Somali community is between 30,000 and 35,000. We live mainly in Calgary, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, and Grande Prairie. About 50% of our community are first-generation immigrants and 50% are Canadian-born; 84% are younger than 35 years of age, and 97% of us are Muslims.
In Alberta, Somali history is that 70% came between 2003 and 2005, and 18% arrived between 2006 and 2009. The majority of us are second-generation immigrants from other provinces, mainly Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. There are others who came as refugees or through other steps.
The biggest challenge of our community at present is lukewarm to hostile reception in Alberta. Despite the fact that we were allowed into Canada in the beginning as an invitation, we feel that the other door that leads to full participation has been closed to us.
There is a Somali proverb that says you don't enter an open door, you enter because there is an open face. This open face is not here for our community. After we came through the first gate, our welcome ended there. It has been a struggle ever since.
Some in our community say that the challenge, after full 30 years of living in Canada, 10 years in Alberta, is how to deal with the systemic barriers that block opportunity, not only from the first generation of Somali Canadians, who were trained in Somalia, but also the young generation who went to a Canadian university and are still not finding opportunities for employment in Alberta.
Then you run into difficulty. For example, your children could be integrated faster than you, through knowing the language and so on. You want to teach your children the culture and to help them adjust in a new environment, but when you are working long hours with no support, that's difficult to do.
Also, when parents are frustrated by unemployment or underemployment, that affects the children. If they see their father, who is an engineer, doing a minimal job, then the kid will probably ask why they should go to university if it didn't help their father or their big brother. So that is a factor.
If 80% of our members are below the age of 35, then there is a critical need to focus on youth. Youth are disillusioned by the fact that their fathers are unemployed and working in a minimal job, despite their having several degrees, while many in the mainstream are prospering. In frustration, the young men drop out of school, feeling there is no point in getting an education.
Or even worse, they are in trouble with the law. One of the things that happen is that because the home area becomes so violent, it's affecting the youth, especially the boys, so some parents send their boys back to Somalia. It's interesting to see parents sending their sons to the unsafe environment that they themselves ran away from. They believe that in that environment at least their children won't be involved with the criminal justice system and organized gangs. A good question to ask then is what that says about Canada.
I interviewed one of the young men, and this is what he told me: The term “Somali” does not make sense to me. I grew up in this culture, where I was known, so I have my identity intact. I don't think that label describes me. Therefore, I disregard it when I hear it. However, I'm worried for my children. They are growing up in this society, and I'm afraid that they will internalize the negativity that comes with this term, “Somali”, not “Canadian”, and it will limit them somehow.
There are theories that say it is quite important in socializing youth for children to know their background so they have a sense of belonging, because they won't see themselves reflected in the social structure they live in right now, in other areas of society. But when young people identify with their parents' homeland more than they identify with where they were born, this shows that they don't feel acceptance in their country. In other words, it's not that young Somalis don't want to be Canadian; they feel they are not accepted as a Canadian by their government and their peers.
Currently the attitude toward the police is not seen as...the attitude toward the youth, the attitude toward the police, is not seen as universally helpful. Many in the Alberta Somali community have concern, especially with the disproportionate number of Somali youth in jail. People believe there are three reasons for that: racial profiling, lack of programs, and poor opportunity for an economic advantage. However, some progress has been made in Edmonton in working with the police and RCMP. In Edmonton, the police are working to reach out to the community.
We are trying to reduce the youth violence in our community by trying to include ourselves in the mainstream society. However, we are trying to address enhancing the supports in terms of social issues by enhancing supports for individuals and families and community to experience inclusion and increase their access to resources and opportunities--building an inclusive environment of support and network.
We are also trying to educate them and empower them by focusing on the various fora that animate the criminal justice system--the school system, the social system, and the justice system.
On the other side, we are trying to enhance the support for increasing first access and resources for opportunity--developing youth strategies to enhance opportunity for Alberta Somalis, giving youth better access to community programs, and providing increased availability for cultural components of health.
However, our community is building a positive future here in Canada. Despite all the trials and turbulence we're facing in Alberta now and have encountered in the past--and will probably encounter in the future--that positive outlook does prevail, as does our ability to give to society itself, not just in the community existing amongst ourselves.
Alberta Somalis are future-oriented. Much importance is placed on the success of the children and youth in the community. A better future is what they are looking for: hard work, pooling resources, community asset building, mentors, and also better financial security.
You can see all of the work the Somali community is doing without any outside help. The community is now moving forward. We are getting used to the idea that we are here to stay, that we need to work harder to make Alberta and Canada our home, and to put in place an institution that will support our community.
After 30 years, people are finally saying they have to unpack their bags, buy homes, and make permanent plans for their future in Alberta and Canada.
Thank you.