Pakistanis in Somalia are residents of Somalia who are of Overseas Pakistani, Pakistani ancestry. They were historically a small community of retail traders and businesspeople.

Demographics

No official data exists on the current number or ethnic subdivisions of Pakistanis in Somalia. Under 1,000 Shia Islam, Shia Desi, Indo-Pakistanis were reported to reside in the country in 2001. As of 1989, a group of ethnic Baloch people, Baloch also lived in Somalia. An Iranian peoples, Iranic community, they were estimated at 8,200 residents.

Community

There has been a small community of Pakistanis in Somalia since at least the 1960s. Historically, they were mainly shopkeepers, concentrated in Mogadishu and other southern urban areas. Pakistanis were among the main expatriate communities in the country, which also included Indians, Yemenis and Italian Somalis, Italians. After the Somali Civil War, civil war broke out in Somalia in the early 1990s, most of the resident Pakistanis left the country. Around 5,700 Pakistani troops contributed to the ensuing UN peacekeeping operation in southern Somalia. In the 2000s, some Pakistanis were reported to be among the ranks of foreign fighters involved in the Al-Shabaab (militant group), Al-Shabaab-led Islamist insurgency in Somalia. Pakistani missionaries from the Tablighi Jamaat also frequently journeyed to the country, where they would engage in missionary work and dawah.

Organizations

The Pakistani community in Somalia was diplomatically represented by the Pakistani embassy in Mogadishu. Established in 1973, it provided services to the resident Pakistanis.

References

{{Pakistani diaspora Somalian people of Pakistani descent, Immigration to Somalia Pakistani diaspora by country, Somalia Pakistani diaspora in Africa, Somalia

Demographics

Community

Organizations

See also

References