Twelve Somalis were arrested by the Dutch authorities on 24 December. The Dutch national intelligence service AIVD says they were planning a terrorist attack. Now Somalis in the Netherlands find themselves in the media spotlight: is their community here a breeding ground for new 'Muslim' terrorists?

The Netherlands is home to at least 27,000 Somalis who have fled the violence in their native country. The first wave of several thousand refugees arrived in the Netherlands around 1990. A second wave of refugees started five years ago.

Somalia appears to be locked in a state of perpetual civil war as a result of clan rivalries and the fight between Islamist militias and the interim government. Now it seems they are not even safe in the Netherlands. Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf quotes an anonymous source as saying that the AIVD has ‘concrete information’ that the Somalian detainees – thought to have ties with Islamist militia al-Shabaab - were planning an attack on the Gilze-Rijen air force base and intended to bring down one or more Apache helicopter gunships with rocket-propelled grenades.

Ali Ware, director of the Amsterdam Somalian Association Somvao says: “Members of the Somali community are talking to each other, asking each other how this came about and whether the accusations are true. And they are curious about how the situation will develop. I know this has an impact on the Somali community because we are now being seen as a terrorist community. And with some justification, but some (of the suspects) have apparently been released and we will just have to wait and see.”

Several extremist Islamic organisations are active in Somalia. The AIVD has warned that Somalis in the Netherlands and other countries are receptive to the ideas of the jihadists. The Dutch Somali umbrella organisation FSAN has also warned of this danger.

Integration
Many official reports point out that the Somali community in the Netherlands is badly integrated in Dutch society and faces numerous problems: high unemployment, little education, highly dependent on welfare payments, high crime rates and an inadequate knowledge of Dutch.

How is it that Somali face so many problems? Ali Ware says that is a difficult question:

“The first people to come here during the war were from the cities. They were mostly well-educated businessmen and civil servants. Their diplomas were not accepted and it was difficult to find work. Some of us emigrated to the United Kingdom. The Somalians who came here in the past five years lived through years of protracted conflict. They are traumatized and uneducated. This is a separate group, which requires much attention.”

Frustrations
AIVD reports suggest young Somalis frustrated with their lack of prospects in Dutch society may be taking recourse to extremist Islamic organisations. Ali Ware knows that other Dutch Somalis are worried about this as well. Mr Ware says he does not know anybody who is active in jihadist circles, but he does understand the frustration among his compatriots.

“It’s normal, you see. When people have no perspective, when they cannot find work or when their diplomas have little or no value, they remain stranded in a very low socio-economic class. And that can lead to frustration. You have to try to solve your own problems, but sometimes you need the help of other people.”

This summer, parliament ordered the previous Dutch cabinet to develop policies specifically tailored to the needs of the Somali community. Ali Ware would like to see programmes focussing on education and on helping people set up their own businesses. Idleness leads to frustration, he says.