“After so much death, it was a wonder anyone remained in the country at all. No one really knows the population of Somalia but, during the past twenty years, somewhere between one third and one half of the six-to-eight million… — Ben Rawlence Copy Share Image
“I tried to explain to the NSC officials my own wonder at this teeming ramshackle metropolis with cinemas, football leagues, hotels and hospitals, and… — Ben Rawlence Copy Share Image
“When he asked about work, Noor laughed. Guled learned that employment in Kenya was forbidden. Like many governments anxious about asylum seekers, Kenya didn’t… — Ben Rawlence Copy Share Image
“In Ifo he felt only hostility. The inhabitants eyed him nervously. Guled had come from a place of fighting and fear; as far as… — Ben Rawlence Copy Share Image
“Al-Shabaab seemed right about many things. The newsletter said that international aid was brought to ruin Somali agriculture and to make people dependent on… — Ben Rawlence Copy Share Image
“In the city, the ‘Battle of Mogadishu’, as al-Shabaab’s offensive was known, intensified street by street with trenches, snipers and indiscriminate shelling. The militants’… — Ben Rawlence Copy Share Image
“Millions more, the vast majority, remain in camps. And through our tax contributions to the UN, we all pay billions of dollars to keep… — Ben Rawlence Copy Share Image
“I thought of the former child soldier Guled and the many like him, who had fled to the camp to escape the extremists, not… — Ben Rawlence Copy Share Image
“But Ethiopia and America were nervous of an Islamic government and the US and other nations sponsored Ethiopia to invade Somalia and dispatch the… — Ben Rawlence Copy Share Image
“At a time when there are more refugees than ever, the rich world has turned its back on them. Our myths and religions are… — Ben Rawlence Copy Share Image
“Poverty does not necessarily lead to extremism,’ I said. In my head, images of the proud Imams defending their traditions against the murderous corruptions;… — Ben Rawlence Copy Share Image
“Raised on the meagre rations of the United Nations for their whole lives, schooled by NGOs and submitted to workshops on democracy, gender mainstreaming… — Ben Rawlence Copy Share Image
“The place where Guled had come seeking sanctuary was, according to Oxfam, a ‘public health emergency’, and had been for several years. It was… — Ben Rawlence Copy Share Image
