Zakia Hussein resigned as assistant police director in Somalia this summer. Now she has been to Norway to talk to Norwegian-Somali parents. The aim has been to warn against sending children alone to Somalia, and leaving them with distant relatives or in so-called Koranic schools. news revealed in 2017 that Norwegian-Somali children and young people were sent to so-called Koranic schools in Kenya and Somalia. They told about treatment that the Norwegian authorities called torture. The cases received a lot of attention. – Those who are behind these institutions deceive the parents. They say we can teach them the Koran, and use religion to develop the children. And if they are addicted to drugs or alcohol, we can get them out of this by using religion and culture, says the former policewoman. She thinks this is slick marketing. – Parents are slowly opening their eyes to what is going on at some of these institutions, says Hussein. – Having been inside planes and fetching families out, news meets Zakia Hussein at Stovner police station in Oslo. Here she meets section chief Astri Johanne Holm and police superintendent Jasmina Holten, Norway’s only specialist in investigating honor cases. Zakia Hussein with Jasmina Holten and Astri Johanne Holm, visiting the Stovner police. Photo: Tormod Strand / news Holm believes that the message Hussein gives to Norwegian-Somali parents is very important. – We have gone so far that we have even been inside planes and taken families out just before departure, because we have reason to believe that children will be left behind abroad. But the main picture is that when children and young people have left Norway, it is often very complicated to get them back, says Holm. She is section leader in the Oslo police for investigating violence in close relationships and sexual offences. Her advice to Norwegian Somalis is to trust the Norwegian authorities and police. If for some reason they are in despair about their children: Seek advice from the Norwegian system. – If parents do not believe that there is help to be had in Norway, because you do not know the Norwegian system, you may become desperate and do things that absolutely should have been avoided. Our experience is that it is much worse afterwards, because you get to hurt children again, says Holm. – Almost the same as torture Zakia Hussein has been traveling in Oslo and Bergen to talk to Norwegian Somalis. She has been invited here by the website NorSom Media. Zakia Hussein on the podium, in a meeting with Norwegian Somalis. Photo: Nor Som media Hussein resigned from the top job in the Somali police this summer. She believes it is wrong to call the institutions Koranic schools, because those behind them are often not educated in Islam. She confirms that violence takes place at some of these institutions. – In the worst cases, it is almost the same as torture. There is physical abuse, but there is also a lot of psychological abuse. Because remember, these children, when they are taken there, are already labeled as troublesome children. They need to be reprogrammed, so to speak. You try to create a new person in them. So they don’t meet with much mercy, says the former top police officer. She believes it is similar to a militarized way of changing children, changing them into something they are not. In some cases, children are also drugged, says Hussein. – When children and young people react to physical violence from teachers in institutions, they can be perceived as violent. This in turn can lead to tranquilizers being used against them, says Hussein. Hussein believes girls have it worst, when they are involuntarily left behind in Somalia. Photo: Tormod Strand / news Difficult to intervene As a woman, Zakia Hussein was a rarity at the top of the Somali police force. Among other things, she led a female special force that was supposed to fight the terrorist group Al Shabaab. Hussein, who partly grew up in Sweden, says she wants to help build a Somalia built on human rights. A place where children are protected. This is where her commitment to the Koranic schools comes into play. For ten years she has been concerned with the issue, she says, and tried to cooperate with the foreign embassies when children are left behind in Somalia. She often faced obstacles through her job in the police. – It is very difficult to get involved in family problems, because it is the parents who take these children there. In this way, we intervene in the parents’ choice to take a child to a school, which they have chosen themselves. Therefore, there is not much we can do, says Hussein. – Only if we have someone who wants to testify to what has happened, we might have a basis to go in and close it, she adds. In any case, the former police chief does not believe that closing the schools will work in the long term. – As long as there is demand, a market, it doesn’t help. If I close ten places, another 20 will open tomorrow. So it is unproductive, says Hussein. She emphasizes that this is a big market, and that the big money is getting Somalis from Western countries because they pay more. Hussein: – Girls have it worse than boys. She believes it is worse for girls to be sent to these institutions than for boys. Her experience is that girls experience sexual abuse at some of these institutions. In 2017, news revealed Koranic schools in Somalia and Somaliland, where Norwegian-Somali children and young people told about whipping and the use of ankle chains. Photo: Esther Bjørneboe / news She says the girls are often left in such places, because the parents consider them to be “loose”, as in sexually promiscuous. The reason may just be that they are seen together with boys in Norway. – When she then arrives in Somalia or Kenya, she is already marked as “loose”. There, it is much easier to experience sexual abuse, because everyone knows that no one will believe her if she tells about abuse. She is already marked, says Hussein. Published 23.11.2024, at 21.12
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– Don’t send your kids here – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
