Search

Begin New Search Political Geography United Kingdom Content Type Journal Article Journal Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies

1. Global Remittances: Update on the UK-Somali Corridor

Author:
Mohamed Aden Hassan and Giulia Liberatore
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
In May 2013 Barclays Bank in the UK announced it was shutting down the accounts of four Somali Money Service Businesses (MSBs) includ- ing Dahabshiil, the largest remittance company operating in the Somali regions. Following international uproar, and a Somali diaspora-led grassroots campaign, the UK government took on the task of setting up an Action Group on Cross Border Remittances and a Somali-UK Safer Corridor Pilot Project with the aim of finding a durable solution to the problem. Two years later, however, the Safer Corridor Project has collapsed. Legal remittance flows persist, albeit in a fragile and precarious environment. This paper provides a brief update on the Safer Corridor Initiative, its challenges, and how the money transfer sector has been adapting to the process.
Topic:
International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, Diaspora, and Legal Theory
Political Geography:
Africa, United Kingdom, Europe, and Somalia

2. British and Somali Views of Muhammad Abdullah Hassan's 'Jihad,' 1899-1920

Author:
John P. Slight
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Since the start of Hassan's jihad against unbelievers and insufficiently pious Muslims in 1899, the “Cinderella of the Empire” had suffered terribly. Hassan's jihad caused “universal perdition,” with an estimated 200,000 deaths over twenty years in a territory of three million people. An estimated 30,000 alone died in three years as the result of internecine warfare after the British decided the cost of keeping the “Mad Mullah” in check was too burdensome and withdrew to the coast in 1909. The withdrawal led Hassan to resume raiding Somali tribes in the protectorate. This, coupled with the British policy of arming these tribes to fend for themselves, contributed to the death toll. Hassan was condemned by the British, but a few of the same observers also grudgingly admired his determination and sustained resistance to imperial power.
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Somalia

3. Haweenku Wa Garab (Women are a Force): Women and the Somali Nationalist Movement, 1943-1960

Author:
Safia Aidid
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
In 1972, the Supreme Revolutionary Council of General Mohammed Siad Barre passed a resolution to erect several monuments in Mogadishu in honour of symbolic nationalist figures and events in Somali history. These monuments would come to include Sayyid Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, leader of a twenty-three year anti-colonial war (1898–1921) against the imposition of British rule; Daljirka Dahsoon (The Unknown Soldier), representing all Somali lives lost in battle; and Hawa Osman Taako, a woman killed at the time of a 1948 Somali Youth League organized demonstration that was violently disrupted by pro- Italian groups. At an intersection, home to the National Theatre and in the heart of the capital, Hawa Taako's concrete figure, sword and stone in hand, is permanently inscribed in the collective historical consciousness of Somalis.
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Somalia

4. Post-Migration Geographical Mobility, Mental Health and Health Service Utilisation among Somali Refugees in the UK: A Qualitative Study15

Author:
Nasir Warfa, Kamaldeep Bhui, Tom Craig, Sarah Curtis, Salaad Mohamud, Stephen Stansfeld, Paul McCrone, and Graham Thornicroft
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Migration is known to be associated with poor health outcomes for certain marginalised and socially disadvantaged populations. This paper reviews a number of reasons why residential mobility in the 'host' country may be associated with poor mental health for refugee populations and reports on a qualitative study of Somalis living in London, UK, and their beliefs about the relationship between residential mobility, poor health and health service use. Two discussion groups were undertaken with 13 Somali professionals and four groups with 21 lay Somalis in East and South London, UK. Lay Somalis did not wish to move accommodation but felt they were forced to move. Some Somali professionals believed that the nomadic history of Somalis made them more likely to elect to move in order to escape problems of living, but this was not supported by the lay group. Frequent geographical movements were seen as stressful and undesirable, disrupted family life and child development and were detrimental to well being. Residential mobility was also perceived to interfere with health care receipt and therefore should be more comprehensively assessed in larger quantitative studies.
Political Geography:
United Kingdom

5. The North-South Divide in Everyday Life: Londoners Sending Money "Home"

Author:
Anna Lindley
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
These views neatly capture the ambiguous feelings that soon become apparent when asking Somali Londoners about sending money “home.” A relative minority of the Somali regions' so-called “missing million” have settled in the Global North, but they provide the bulk of remittance funds. A key node in global trade and finance, London has also witnessed “globalisation from below”: by the beginning of the 21st century over one third of the workforce was born abroad. While the dynamics and impact of immigration and asylum in London are relatively well-recorded and well-researched, the fact that London is also a key source of remittances for poorer countries has only come to the attention of researchers and policymakers in recent years. The World Bank in 2008 suggested that migrants in the U.K. sent official remittances amounting to some $4.5 billion in 2006.
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, London, and Somalia