THE SOMALI COMMUNITY

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The Somali community is among the largest transnational communities in the world. Having suffered mass displacements due to the devastating war and civil unrest in Somalia since 1991, Somalis have resettled around the globe in their millions, with the greatest number of Somali migrants living around the border of Somalia and in the neighbouring countries. In the United Kingdom, although records of the earliest British-Somalis can be dated back to 1914 with the conscription of Somali young men to serve as soldiers in the British Army in the First World War, the country has, since the late 1980s and early 90s, welcomed thousands of Somali refugees. London is now home to over 65, 000 Somali men, women and children (2011 census), and thus boasts one of the largest thriving Somali diasporic communities in the West.

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Somali families are often multigenerational, with parents, children and grandparents living under the same roof. This type of family structure allows the heritage language to be passed down from one generation to the next. Moreover, it is in London that we see annual events such as Somali Week taking place with whole families attending to celebrate Somali music, food and language in an attempt to keep Somali identity at the forefront for the community. For Somalis then, the Somali language is part of the Somali identity, and although many Somalis will speak other languages, such as Arabic as well as the languages of the countries that they have travelled through on their journey as transnational families, it is with the Somali language the Somalis identify most.