33 Countries of Origin’ Profiles

1 SOMALIA Produced by the University of Malta FAST FACTS • Somalia is the easternmost country of Africa, on the Horn of Africa • There are many different ethnic groups living in Somalia, the biggest of which are: the Isaaq, the Hawiye, the Dir, the Darod, the Digil Rahanweyn, the Mirifle Rahanweyn • The vast majority of Somalis are Sunni and of the Shafi’i school of Islamic jurisprudence. Belief in the Evil Eye is widespread - Somalis think that a person can pass on the Evil Eye to another by praising that person, and thus causing them harm or illness • Since the 1980’s Somalia has gone through a civil war, state collapse, clan factionalism in the 1990s, culminating in globalized ideological conflict in the 2000’s • Since 2014 the anti-government militant group Al-Shabaab , aligned with Al Qaeda, appears to be weakening; however, its militants and other opposition groups continue to launch suicide attacks and fuel conflict. Al-Shabaab maintains control over large areas in southern and central Somalia • Somali society is based on a clan system with membership in a diya group along kinship lines • Some Somalis believe that the Evil Eye causes illness, and summon religious leaders when a serious illness is diagnosed. Somalis believe that spirits live inside people and when they become angry, they manifest their anger through illnesses such as fever, headache and other • The Gender Inequality Index ranks Somalia as the fourth most unequal country globally • Somalia has extremely high rates of maternal mortality, rape, female genital mutilation and child marriage. Violence against women is common and deeply ingrained in society • Al-Shabaab continues to torture, threaten, abduct and kill civilians, recruit child soldiers , rape women and girls. Most women do not report to the police due to the fees required to open a case file; moreover, the police and the army are often perpetrators of rape themselves. Armed militias allied with the Government and clan militias have also been found guilty of forcing girls into marriage