Solidarity among / with the Somalis! – Liberate 215 Immigrants from Libyan Jails!

By: Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
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[ Posted On: 2008-07-04 ]

- What is the sum of 172000 US$ if the life of 215 people is at stake?

- Nothing!

If you agree with this, you should take action; the political leaders, the elders of the tribes, the Somali Diaspora, and all the Humanitarian NGOs, who struggle to reduce pain and distress allover the world, must be concerned with the following case of imprisoned Somali immigrants.

A shocking revelation has been published just hours ago by the leading Somali portal Mareeg. It relates to one more unfortunate story that has befallen on Somalis who risked their lives to get out of Somalia, and find a better life elsewhere, until peace prevails back home at the Horn of Africa.

No less than 215 Somali immigrants are still detained in Libyan jails because they have no money to pay in order to be released. The sad story has an even more preoccupying aspect, namely accusations of corruption expressed by those released as regards the staff of the Somali Embassy at Tripoli.

It is urgent that the topic be among the first to be raised by the ARS representatives who will further discuss with the TFG the steps to take in order to pacify the country. In addition, an investigation must be demanded in the strongest possible terms.

Humanitarian issues, the fate of the starving IDPs, and the destiny of the Somali immigrants in various jails allover the world should be given a priority.

Either the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia or the TFG have to demonstrate their commitment to offer Somalis the basics for survival. The rest, the path to elections, the reconstruction of the country, and the reunification come after.

Who among the Somalis will trust Somali political leaders in the future if they fail now to demonstrate their sensitivity for their suffering compatriots?

Somalia will be reconstructed from scratch; this means automatically that priority has to be given to the basics. ARS representatives will best dissociate themselves from the unrepresentative TFG if they show a moral profile, keen interest for the problems of the average Somali, and not mere greed for power.

This simple case can be one of the many circumstances in which ARS will manage to make the difference and demarcate themselves from the corrupt war lords, the unrepresentative and arrogant TFG, and their insensitive and heartless diplomats.

To raise this fund will not be difficult; the money is little but it has a symbolic value; that of the Somali Solidarity. It will be the beginning of an effort of national dimensions, and it will convince all the Somalis that, to save their distressed compatriots, all are ostensibly able to leave the differences, the conflicts, the discords and the disputes at the door.

For the international friends of Somalia, all those who love Africa and feel shame for the colonial deeds perpetrated in the Black Continent, it will be another proof of dedication and ardour.

I re-publish integrally here the devastating report that has just been published in the Mareeg portal, being convinced that the details will push many to take the correct, and so urgently needed, action.

Somalia: Somali embassy official's Corruptions Exposed by Mareeg Media
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?sid=6643&tirsan=3

Some Somali illegal immigrants who were imprisoned in Libya have been released. The 65 prisoner who were released were among 280 Somali illegal immigrants who were in Libyan jail for the last five months. The prisoners are said to have been freed after paying 800 dollars per person.

According to Hussein Igal Dhore who is among those who paid the money [800 dollars] who were released said that, the money was taken by the Transitional Federal Government [TFG] of Somalia's ambassador to that country Libya. He added that even though the Libyan government has released the prisoners, the Somali embassy is taking the money from the detainees and as a result those who were unable to pay the 800 dollars are still in custody.

Hussein Igal said after he was released from the prison he was taken to the Somali embassy so that he could pay the money. "The Libyan government has released us but we are being detained by the ambassador who is asking for 800 dollars per person" he said.

"Those who cannot afford will rot in the prison" he added. The released, 65 of us, were brought in buses as we have been waiting for two weeks. "We were brought to the embassy where the money sent by our relatives was acknowledged and we signed the release" Igal said sitting at a backyard ahead of Somalia's embassy in Tripoli. Many Somali refugees are imprisoned outside the country and complain of Somali embassy officials who further request their detention in prison so that they can be paid.

The embassy role is to protect the interest of their country and citizens. However "they profiting their misery instead of helping them" that was one of the Somali refugee who has paid $800 dollar to Somali embassy in Libya to gain his freedom from Libyan jail.

Note: An immigrant Somali mother and her child; give them a chance to live!
http://www.biyokulule.com/Somali%20Women's%20experience.htm

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author: Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis - is Orientalist, Assyriologist, Egyptologist, Iranologist, Islamologist, Historian and Political Scientist. Dr. Megalommatis, 51, is the author of 12 books, dozens of scholarly articles, hundreds of encyclopedia entries, and thousands of articles. He speaks, reads and writes more than 15, modern and ancient, languages.

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