Somalis in Germany are citizens and residents of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
who are of
Somali descent. According to the
Federal Statistical Office of Germany
The Federal Statistical Office (german: Statistisches Bundesamt, shortened ''Destatis'') is a federal authority of Germany. It reports to the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
The Office is responsible for collecting, processing, presenting and ...
, as of 2016, there are a total 33,900
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
-born immigrants living in Germany. Of those, 7,985 individuals were granted asylum status.
History
Between 1969 and 1991, the flow of Somali refugees to Germany was steady, but it increased quickly after 1991. Many of these later arrivals subsequently moved on to other countries, including the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
UNHCR data suggests that 15,000 people from Somalia claimed asylum in Germany between 1990 and 1999. In March 2019, together with the
International Organization for Migration
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a United Nations agency that provides services and advice concerning migration to governments and migrants, including internally displaced persons, refugees, and migrant workers.
The IOM was ...
, Germany started to run a resettlement programme for refugees in Ethiopia. A first group of 154 Somali refugees were resettled in Germany under the programme in October 2019.
According to German Census data,
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
has the highest share of Somali migrant and has a Somali cultural association. Other cities like
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
and
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
have also few numbers of Somali population.
Social issues
In a
BKA report on statistics from 2017, migrants to Germany from Somalia constituted 1.7% of all migrants and 2.9% of all migrant crime suspects.
Female genital mutilation and gender-based violence
According to the
BMFSFJ, of the 5,797 women from Somalia living in Germany in May 2016 without
German citizenship, 5,681 (98%) were victims of
female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
.
According to research with 20 Somali refugee women living in shared reception facilities in Germany, many travelled to the country alone, with fear of sexual violence, forced marriage, honor killings or FGM being cited as gender-specific reasons for having fled Somalia.
Radicalization
In the 2010-2012 Somalia became one of the main jihadi destinations for German foreign terrorist fighters. A significant portion of these Somalis belonged to a group of
al-Shabaab sympathizers in
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
, along with German converts to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
.
There were also several
mass stabbings
A mass stabbing is a single incident in which multiple victims are harmed or killed in a knife-enabled crime. In such attacks, sharp objects are thrust at the victim, piercing through the skin and harming the victim. Examples of sharp instruments ...
made by Somali migrants, including the mass stabbing in
Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzburg is ...
(2021) where 3 women were killed and few others were injured and other mass stabbing in
Ludwigshafen
Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...
(2022) where 2 men were killed. Both stabbings were rumoured that this incindents were motivated to radicalized religious background.
References
Further reading
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{{Somali diaspora
Somalian diaspora in Europe
Ethnic groups in Germany