Sir, Anthony Loyd’s articles on Somalia (Mar 5 and 7) contrast the financial flows from piracy activities in the Somali Nairobi suburb with the rising threat of al-Shabaab to the West. The re-grouping of radical elements of al-Qaeda-inspired jihadist movements from Pakistan and Yemen in the relative safety of Somalia, where they exercise virtual total geographical and political control, presents a valuable platform for the launching of terrorist activities in the West. The quarter of a million Somali diaspora residents in the UK could also provide cover, as migrant communities have done historically.
However, the real Somalia is a place where one third of the population is in a state of humanitarian crisis, hunger is rife and human rights are routinely violated by a strict Sharia regime. They deserve our support.
Constructive engagement with the UK Somali community is imperative, for both women and men, through education, employment training and mentoring. In this respect the running down of the Quilliam Foundation appears totally counter-productive.
The dangers of jihadist terrorism, nurtured in the Somali community both in the UK and Somalia, should not be underestimated and the “Big Society” should confront this reality. Joined-up government should synchronise UK interventions with those within Somalia.
Dr Joseph Mullen
East Dean, E Sussex