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Somalis in S.D. not alarmed by terror recruiting risks

Steve Young, (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Argus Leader

somalis in SD
“Every time we see the news, what is happening, because we came from Somalia, that (local perception) is something that always worries us,” said Somali refugee Suleiman Khamis. (Photo: Elisha Page / Argus Leader)

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Said Yusuf stands near the front counter of his grocery store here and nods his head.

Yes, yes, he’s heard about the steady exodus of young Somali Muslim men and women out of the Twin Cities to join Islamic terrorist groups overseas.

Yes, he knows that federal officials suspect Minneapolis and St. Paul are fast becoming the primary hub for the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS, and its growing jihadist recruitment efforts here in the United States.

But what of Sioux Falls, the native Somalian is asked? What of the hundreds of Somali refugees who have been relocated here by Lutheran Social Services — only 250 miles from the Twin Cities — and fears that their children might be targeted by ISIL recruiters?

This time, Yusuf does not nod.

“I know the people here,” he says, and terrorist recruitment is not a fear they live with, at least not compared to their fellow countrymen in the Twin Cities.

Sioux Falls has about 1,600 to 1,800 Somalis, though “it’s difficult to tell as (they) have a tendency to migrate to Minnesota on a frequent basis,” said Tim Jurgens, director of Lutheran Social Services’ Center for New Americans.

Yet while they might not be overly concerned about the threat, they aren’t ignoring the conversation, either, say those who interact with them on a daily basis.

“I do think there is some concern, not just with the Somalis but the Sudanese and other groups locally as well,” said Christy Nicolaisen, director of the Multi-Cultural Center. “I think they worry about how some are influenced by what is going on over there. Maybe not worry, but I do think there is discussion.”

At the African Community Center, agency president Hirsi Mohamed said the FBI has stopped by his office twice to talk. He’s told them that his organization neither sees nor hears of problems in Sioux Falls, “but that we have to keep our eyes on those kinds of things.”

Three weeks ago, FBI Director James Comey described how ISIL recruiters operating from safe havens in Syria were using Twitter and other social media platforms to direct messages to “disturbed people” who could be pushed to launch assaults on U.S. targets.

“It’s like the devil sitting on their shoulders, saying ‘kill, kill, kill,’ ” Comey said in a meeting with reporters.

The increasingly sophisticated use of social media by ISIL means Sioux Falls could just as easily be a target for recruitment as Minneapolis, said Kyle Loven, media coordinator for the FBI in the Twin Cities.

“I don’t think geography is a protection nor a barrier any longer with respect to terrorism recruitment,” Loven said.

Yet while acknowledging that the FBI has counterterrorism work going on in South Dakota and North Dakota, he said he knew of no specific concerns in the Sioux Falls areas.

In the Twin Cities, a steady stream of young people started returning to Somalia in 2006 to join a militant group there called al-Shabaab.

From 2006 to 2011, at least 27 Somali-Americans disappeared from Minneapolis and went off to fight in their homeland. Justin Hienz, who co-authored a report released in April through the University of Southern California that explored the ongoing terrorist recruitment and radicalization in the Twin Cities Somali community, said many of those young people were drawn back to their homeland by talk of rebuilding it.

“They were Muslim. They were interested in pushing back against Kenya andEthiopia’s influence in their country. So there was this nationalistic pull,” said Hienz, who is based out of Washington, D.C.

by the end of 2013, the flow out of the Twin Cities no longer was to Somalia but to Syria — the result of a relationship that had developed between al-Shabaab and ISIL.

In the past 17 months, at least 11 men and one woman have left Minnesota for Syria, law enforcement officials report. Another dozen or so either attempted to travel there before being intercepted or are believed to be preparing to go.

“Once they stopped going to Somalia, parents and friends (in the Twin Cities) couldn’t understand the draw,” Hienz said. “Why go to Syria, where they have no ethnic or cultural ties? Why was there this shift in destination?”

The answers, he said, probably go to issues of assimilation and self-identity — and help to explain why the Twin Cities are struggling so much with terrorist recruitment when smaller communities such as Sioux Falls aren’t.

Minneapolis is unique, Hienz said, in that it has the largest Somali census in the country, one that is constantly replenished with first- and second-generation Somalis just leaving foreign refugee camps.

It is a population that never fully assimilates, in part because the Somalis tend to congregate in closed communities, Hienz said.

Two Somali malls in Minneapolis look like they’re right out of Mogadishu with their narrow walkways and stalls, he said. There are charter schools filled with nothing but Somali students.

In such an environment, home and cultural life tend to remain largely tied to the old world. Especially for those between 16 years old and the mid-20s who are not well assimilated and living on the margins of society, it can be difficult to know what your identity is in the world, Hienz said.

“On the one hand, you’re American, and on other hand, Somali. Accepted by both. Rejected by both,” he said. “Say someone is confused about who they are, and a skilled recruiter comes along and says: ‘You’re like me. You’re not American. Look at how they insult your family.’ That lack of assimilation is when you have the opportunity to shape an identity toward being a freedom fighter.”

It’s probably less likely in Sioux Falls, Hienz said, because there are no charter schools here, no isolated Somali neighborhoods and no replica malls, though Somalis like Said Yusuf do operate their own stores.

“We’re a small community. Everyone knows each other. That is the difference here,” Yusuf’s wife, Sofia Mohamed, said.

This is not a city that is sitting back and waiting to see what happens. Hirsi Mohamed at the African Community Center said his organization is talking to the school district about helping with tutoring programs for African refugee students, especially at the high school level.

He also is interested in the possibility of workshops in the future that bring educators, parents and students together to focus on citizenship, leadership and greater integration into the community.

“We’re trying to make sure this community will be safe,” Mohamed said.

Source: USAToday

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