On May 18th and I spoke at a national conference about Sweden integration in Tylosand, Halmstad. My session was scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m. local time and it did. Everything runs on time around here. Over 400 people came to listen to my presentation and asked questions about ADC’s work, and the similarities and the differences between Minnesotan-Somali community and Swedish-Somali community. Predominately people who attended this conference work for the government. And it seems to me in Sweden everybody is employed by the government. I know it is not true that all the people of the country are employed by the different levels of government, however the public sector dominates the thinking and the actions of many people in Sweden. Most of these people were bureaucrats who were mainly concerned with the ability of Swedish-Somali community to integrate into the Swedish society. I will be writing a great deal about integration and, in particular, Swedish-Somali integration throughout my blogging experience from Sweden.
Somalis are in a very tough spot everywhere in the world due to never ending civil war happening in many parts of Somalia and continuous outflow of people running away from the civil strife. There are about 37,000 Somali speaking individuals in Sweden. Sweden actually keeps much more precise statistics about its ethnic demographics than what I have seen us do in the United States. Some Somalis have been here in Sweden for a long period of time – since late 80s – and some have arrived recently – fleeing from the escalating civil war in the southern part of Somalia. The Swedish-Somali community is seen by the larger community and other Swedish immigrant groups as people who don’t want to work and don’t want integrate, yet integration is actually never defined clearly and not articulated in a measurable terms. Somali-Swedish and other immigrants are confused about what it means to be fully integrated into Swedish society. Everyone that I have met so far defines and understands integration a little bit differently.To my dismay and shock some of the Swedish-Somali community actually believe what is being said about them, even though a substantial number of Swedish-Somali community are learning the Swedish language, graduating from colleges, or acquiring professional certificates and working – Yes, working!
People were astounded to actually hear in my presentation that the Minnesota-Somali community has started over 2000 businesses since 1994 and they participate the labor market in full force. Of course I told them there are economic and social issues that the Minnesota-Somalis are struggling with, however the majority of Minnesota-Somalis are striving for success and gradually becoming part of the middle class through education, employment, entrepreneurship, and homeownership.
Yet even in Minnesota, where Minnesota-Somalis are undeniably succeeding, there are people, including some of the Minnesota-Somali community, who don’t believe the Somalis are succeeding and critically adapting a new way of living in large numbers. In spite of facts, data and statistics of success about Minnesota-Somalis, some Minnesotans only see the negatives headlines about the community and form their opinion about them based on limited number of Minnesota-Somalis. But it should be noted that the Minnesota-Somali community is a new community that came from a war torn country, and it is miracle that they are as successful in education, business, and civic engagement as they are.
After I was done with my presentation I mingled with the audience for some time and then went down to the hotel lobby to do what I could for ADC’s upcoming Gala, which was scheduled on May 20th. I normally work about 10 to 12 hours a day. However, this trip is stretching little bit of my working hours in to 14 to 16 hours.
In the evening I met the Swedish-Somali community that live in the Halmstad region and 150 of them, including a few children and lot of youth under 25 who came to engage with me about the future of Swedish-Somali community and hear the progress made by the Minnesota-Somali community. This group was predominately a new group who came to Sweden in the last 2 years and have no history of the previous Swedish-Somali undeserved reputation of being lazy and disinterested in integrating into the Swedish community. The Swedish-Somali that I met in the evening of May 18th was extremely bright, engaged, and aware the social context that they live in. They all told me unequivocally that they want to work, while some of them currently are employed and are studying the Swedish language, others are looking for work. The Swedish-Somali community is multi-lingual and multi-cultural community. Some members of the community actually speak fluently Swedish, Somali, and English.
I was taken aback when a 16 year old boy who was born in Sweden asked me in English, “Adeer, can you imagine if Swedish people came to Somalia due to civil war here in Sweden, and Somalis were the hosts and and asked the Swedish community to learn Somali and when they did call them all sorts of names accusing them not wanting to integrate and treat them poorly and then blame them for everything under the sun?” He shocked me further when he added, “My mom and dad tell me educating is the only way out for us and we have to be 20 times better than anybody else in Sweden in order to succeed in this country.” This is a feeling shared by many of the Swedish-Somali community members I met. Although, they told me unequivocally that they are not victims, nor do they want to be perceived as victims. They acknowledged life is a struggle and with education and good jobs they too will make it over time here in Sweden. And there are positive signs that the Swedish-Somali community is on the move for good things. Especially if they have been in Sweden for quite a while. Longevity with determination to succeed helps quite bit for finding jobs and successfully navigating the new culture.
Somali Terms: Adeer = Uncle
My host in Tylosand was Harald Fredriksson. I met Harald when he came to Minnesota in October 2010 with the visiting Swedish delegation. Harald is a hilarious man and speaks great English with down to earth sense of humor. I truly enjoyed spending time with Harald. We went to eat dinner around 9:00 p.m. Europeans eat later dinner than Minnesotans. At times dinner can last until 11:00 p.m. After dinner we went to listen to a rock band that was entertaining the conference attendees. Finally I went back to my hotel room and worked on the ADC Gala until 3:30 a.m.
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The next morning I was off to Gothenburg with Johan Walter. Johan is truly knowledgeable about Swedish-Somali community and he has been working with them for long period of time in different capacity. He is now on the Immigration Board. In Sweden, individuality is not trait a that is being promoted heavily and consensus is cherished. Johan understands Swedish-Somali idiosyncrasies, and he is married to a Chilean woman. We drove from Tylosand to Gothenburg, stopping by at electronic shop where I bought new head phone set for my iphone. I have a lot of books with me to listen to, but my headphone set broke during my flight to Copenhagen.
Gothenburg was awesome. My posting will be up soon.
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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
