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28 October 2014
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Somali Culture

Two Somali men

Leicester's Somali Community

By Tina Mistry, Roots Co-Ordinator
The Somali population of Leicestershire has been only growing steadily over the last 10 years and there is now a well established community in the region. Read on to find out more...

It is one of the fastest growing communities in Leicester but as Somali people only began arriving in 2001, it does not appear in the 2001 census.

Community leaders believe there is a population of 13-15,000, around 5% of the Leicester's total population of 280,000.  Since the last census in 1991 the City Council has recorded 6-10,000 Somalis using their services, that include housing, schools and social services.

The city's Somali leaders believe that their community is much younger than the overall population (65% of them are under 20), and has the city's highest birth-rate.

Discover how and why Somali people came to Leicester as BBC Radio Leicester's Ben Jackson talks to East Midlands Today's Social Affairs Correspondent, Jeremy Ball...

audio Listen: Ben Jackson and Jeremy Ball >
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Journey into Leicester

Most Somalis are EU nationals who received asylum status in the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. In the last few years new arrivals have also come directly from Somalia.

Many who came to Leicester originally had the profile of asylum seekers (due to trauma and stress) although they did not have refugee status in the UK as they were EU nationals.

They therefore did not qualify for the extra government assistance afforded to asylum seekers, although their profile was very similar (for example, they were given English language tuition). This meant that meeting their needs, particularly for education, has put extra pressures on Council resources.

Making the journey during civil war

Muna is a young Somali woman who lives in Leicester.  Listen to her story of the journey that brought her here...

audio Listen: Muna's story >
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Before civil war

Not everyone who left Somalia for our shores was forced to flee the civil war. Ruquia Farah left her home in Mogidishu just over a year before the fighting began.

She came here to study and planned to return home to teach English in her home country. However the civil war has forced her to change her plans.

She now works at Regent College in Leicester but says if she'd had known she was saying goodbye to her family and friends for such a long time, things might have been different.

Illegal journey

Hawa left Somalia at the age of 28 by herself and went to Kenya for 6 months to escape from the civil war.

She feared for her life as she was not a legal citizen but brought to the country by smugglers.

She now works as a translator for Leicester Primary Care trust.

audio Listen: Ruquia's story >
Audio and Video links on this page require Realplayer

Language and Religion

Many Somali people speak fluent Dutch (or Danish or Swedish) and/or Swahili. Somalia was an Italian colony, although the northern part of the country was a British protectorate – Somaliland. This was passed to the then Somali government in 1960.

Most Somali communities are Sunni Muslim – they have a Somalian version of Islam. They now have their own Somali mosque in Leicester as religion is very important.

Why Leicester?

There are various reasons why the Somali community came to Leicester, including:

  • The city's multicultural character
  • Older Somalis identify with Britain because of the old colonial links since 1870
  • Strong education system and government ruling to provide a good education for their children
  • The opportunity to freely practice their religion and follow their cultural practices
  • For many the opportunity to stay within their community

Watch Idil's story about moving from Holland to Leicester.  She says that although Holland has a reputation for being relaxed, she feels she can be more herself in Leicester.

(Information provided by Leicester City Council.)

last updated: 16/06/08
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