SOMALIA: UK-BASED DIASPORA AND ITS ECONOMIC IMPACT IN SOMALIA

Passed to the Telegraph by WikiLeaks 9:01PM GMT 04 Feb 2011

Ref ID: 08LONDON2188

Date: 8/26/2008 8:41

Origin: Embassy London

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Destination: 08LONDON2084

Header: VZCZCXRO8573PP RUEHDE RUEHROV RUEHTRODE RUEHLO #2188/01 2390841ZNR UUUUU ZZHP 260841Z AUG 08FM AMEMBASSY LONDONTO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9582INFO RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI PRIORITY 0397RUCNSOM/SOMALIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITYRHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITYRUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITYRHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITYRHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITYRUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITYRHMFIUU/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE PRIORITY
Tags: PREL,PGOV,ATFN,SOCI,EAID,SO,UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LONDON 002188 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL, PGOV, ATFN, SOCI, EAID, SO, UK SUBJECT: SOMALIA: UK-BASED DIASPORA AND ITS ECONOMIC IMPACT IN SOMALIA REF: LONDON 2084 Summary. Known as the "invisible community," the UK's Somali Diaspora has historic roots in Britain but has surged significantly in the last twenty years to an estimated 250,000 to 380,000. With recent immigration increases attributed to family reunification and re-location of other EU-based Somalians to the UK, the UK's Diaspora community has settled largely along clan lines, with local communities generally dominated by one individual clan. There are no nationally recognized leaders in the Somali Diaspora, and individual communities tend to use intra-community dispute resolution (rather than British police and courts) and to forgo engagement with HMG. With one of the lowest rates of unemployment amongst British immigrants, the Somali Diaspora remits several hundred million USD to Somalia. Dahabshiil, the UK-based and world's largest Somali money transfer company, transfers roughly USD 230 million per annum. UK-based Somalians see these remittances as vital for the survival of their families, but also as a means to improve the Somalian economy. HMG has termed these remittances as a "boost against the fight against poverty in Somalia" and started programs to increase transparency and competition among money transfer companies. End summary.
------------------------- Size - 250,000 to 380,000 ------------------------- Termed the UK's "invisible community" for lack of engagement with the national government and mainstream British culture, the UK has had a Somali Diaspora community from the time of the British Protectorate. However, the Diaspora's population has surged in the past twenty years to an estimated 250,000 to 380,000, according to Department for International Development (DFID) contractor and academic Mohamed Aden Hasan, who has recently completed a survey of the UK's Somali population for HMG. In recent years, Somalian immigration has changed from being based on asylum claims - Somalia was once one of the UK's top ten asylum applicant producing countries, according to Home Office statistics. In increasing numbers, Somalians new to the UK now arrive through family re-unification or immigration from other EU countries with less well established Somalian communities (mainly from the Netherlands and Scandinavia). Since 2001, over 50,000 Somalians have become British subjects, and 60 percent report having immediate family members still in Somalia or in refugee camps. Read More