Gothenburg is a charming west coast city and the second largest city of Sweden. There are about 7,000 Swedish-Somali community members living in and around Gothenburg. Some of them have been here over 20 years and some of them arrived recently – in the last 2 years or so. Those community members who have been in the city over 10 years largely acquired education, found work and have become fully integrated. However, the new Swedish-Somali and those who did not learn the language are struggling to find employment and not feel excluded.
Johan Walter was my guide and host throughout my visit in Gothenburg. He speaks fluent English and I was able to learn quite a bit from him . He has a great relationship with the Swedish-Somali in Gothenburg and now works for Immigration Board.
Johan picked me up from the hotel I was staying in Tylosand, which is owned by the famed Swedish pop music duo Roxette. My first meeting was at the Gothenburg City Hall hosted by Vice Mayors Thomas Martinsson and Hampus Magnusson and other distinguished guests, including members of the chamber of commerce and local city officials. I was pleased to meet again for lunch with Yasmin Elmi, who was a member of the Swedish delegation that visited us in Minnesota last October. Yasmin works for the Swedish Public Employment Service and organized a wonderful meeting with the local Swedish-Somali community leaders in Gothenburg on Friday May 20th.
We had a great meeting. All of the guests were proud of their city and its history. Our discussion centered around integration, inclusion, and how to create sustainable jobs for all of the Gothenburg residents. I gave them a brief overview about ADC’s work, the state of Minnesota, the City of Minneapolis, and the successes and challenges of the Minnesota-Somali community. After lunch and an exchange of pleasantries, Johan and I headed to HammarKullen. The welcoming I received from these members of the Swedish-Somali community made me feel as if I were a head of state . Thank you all. They were awesome!
Our community meeting started around 5:45 p.m. Unlike some Minnesota-Somali community meetings, this meeting started on time and ended on time. Over 200 Swedish-Somali showed up to listen and have a dialogue with me about Minnesota and Gothenburg. I continue to see the Swedish-Somali community as aware of their perceived weaknesses, their social issues, and status in Sweden. I will summarize the issues that this community grapples with it at the end of this posting.
Lars, Martin, Johan, and I ate at an Irish Pub and I headed to my hotel after mid-night to unwind from such a long and stimulating day. I did some work around our Gala and slept around 3:00 a.m.
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On Friday May 20th, I spoke at a conference organized by the group organizing new shopping malls for the Swedish-Somali community and others in Gothenburg. After my speech I took some questions and then joined by a panel including Yasmin Elmi and Dahir – members of the Somali Gothenburg community. They are both highly educated individuals and highly integrated into the life way of life in Sweden. Yasmin in particular is a calm, cool, and collected woman.
After this session I met with 25 Swedish-Somali professionals who work in different fields in Yasmin’s office. We had a very intimate and insightful discussion about the community in Sweden and in Minnesota. I then had dinner with Johan and Dahir at a sushi restaurant and went to my hotel around mid-night. I stayed at the Radisson Blu hotel owned by Carlson Companies in Minnesota – a family that emigrated from Sweden. We are truly leaving in a global and connected world.
From my hotel room, I hooked up with the ADC Gala via Skype while I’m not sure how well I was understood, I gave a short message imploring everyone to please buy all of silent action items and donate as much as they could to ADC so we can continue our great work. I also thanked Ubah and the children for allowing me to work overseas and be away from them for these 2 weeks! Thank you.
The morning of Saturday May 21st, I was off to small city near Stockholm called Iskilstuna. I will post on this city very soon.
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I will be sharing with you some of the issues that Swedish-Somali community is struggling with throughout my upcoming postings. Some of these issues are universally shared throughout the Somali-Diaspora – especially if they live in western world. However, some of them are unique here in Sweden.
Clan!!!
Due to the civil war it seems to me that Somali community members do not like each other, add to that the perception of their difference (or ‘otherness’), some of host countries don’t like them either. Sweden is not exempted from this issue. Throughout my travels, Swedish-Somali community members unanimously complain about clan division and disunity among themselves. There is true hunger for unity and to overcome this division, that may exist, but not to the degree that some people would want you to believe.
For example, the leaders that I meant in Gothenburg, and others that I met in the HammarKullen neighborhood, acknowledge the clan division and the difficulties that it creates for unity of the community in Gothenburg. However, they have almost all agreed that what matters to the community more is the competency, leadership, and sincerity of the new people who want to step up and lead the community or speak on its behalf.
I have been told that some of the Swedish leaders exploit the Somali clan differences and magnify them to prevent new leadership to rise from within the Swedish-Somali community. Another concern from this community is the lack of the Swedish consultation from the public and private sectors on how to move the community forward. This concern is especially voiced by those who are highly educated, professionally employed, and comfortable with Swedish, Somali, and English languages. No matter what city they live in, there is desire to partner with the larger community and create an environment for them to effectively become part of their new country through employment, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement.
Of course, Islam also plays a significant role in these matters, and I will be also touching on this further in an upcoming post.
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As always, if you ever feel I have made a mistake or unintentionally offended anyone, please let me know via hsamatar@adcminnesota.org. Feedback is always appreciated.
Thank you for traveling with me and I do appreciate you reading my blog and interacting with me.
Graciously,
Hussein Samatar
Executive Director
