RadicalizationCampaigning against radicalization in Minnesota’s Somali community
Between 2007 and 2008, roughly two dozen Somali young adults left their homes in Minnesota to join al-Shabaab, a Somali-based al-Qaeda affiliate. In the past year alone, at least fifteen Somali men have traveled overseas to join the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq. The U.S. Attorney in Minnesota, Andy Luger, met with Somali community leaders on Monday to outline a campaign that includes job creation and after school programs to combat the root causes of extremism.
"Little Mogadishu" in Minneapolis // Source: wikimapia.com
Between 2007 and 2008, roughly two dozen Somali young adults left their homes in Minnesota to join al-Shabaab, a Somali-based al-Qaeda affiliate. In the past year alone, at least fifteen Somali men have traveled overseas to join the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq, according to the Minnesota Public Radio. Community leaders in Minneapolis and St. Paul, home to America’s largest Somali community, are now looking for ways to discourage young men and women from attempting to join militant groups. The U.S. Attorney in Minnesota, Andy Luger, met with Somali community leaders on Monday to outline a campaign that includes job creation and after school programs to combat the root causes of extremism. “It’s time for the community to work with government to address the root causes of radicalism,” Luger said. “This is not about gathering intelligence, or expanding surveillance. We want to ‘prevent’ — so that we’re not back in this same room five or 10 years from now addressing the same issues.”
The Star Tribune reports that ISIS and al-Shabaab have been actively targeting immigrant Muslim populations in the United States via social media and community networks including mosques and schools. ISIS has even offered to pay for flights for would be militants when they decide to travel to Syria and Iraq to join fellow extremists.
The Somali community in Minnesota needs to be engaged with local employers, law enforcement agencies, schools, and social service organizations, Luger said. Next month, he will ask President Barack Obama to help support and fund his “Building Community Resiliency” initiative in Minnesota. Somali leaders overwhelmingly agree that lack of economic opportunities is the primary reason for the surge in extremism within the community. Only 49 percent of the Somali-born population in Minnesota between ages sixteen and sixty-four are employed, based on survey averages from 2007 and 2011. Luger’s initiative is expected to cost millions, and it has been compared to the Obama administration’s “countering violent extremism” (CVE) initiative which relies on local communities to be the first line of defense against terrorist recruitment in the United States.
Luger told about fifty local Somali leaders on Monday that just as he wants the community to be more engaged with local law enforcement and social service agencies, he will make sure that their personal freedoms will be respected and not undermined in the name of national security. Many Somalis have complained to Luger about racial profiling at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. A similar concern was voiced to DHS chief Jeh Johnson when he met with Somali leaders in Minneapolis two weeks ago at the Brian Coyle Community Center. “We want to build partnerships, to build trust with community organizations such as those represented here at this Islamic center today,” Johnson said. “We’re here to hear about a broad range of issues, to hear some of the issues and grievances that people in the Islamic community have.”
