Yasin, Khaled and Abdi have been sent abroad by their parents.
The boys are just some of the children who are currently stuck in Somalia, despite being in school, after being sent on educational trips.
– They took me into a room and beat me. I couldn’t even walk, my feet were chained, says Khaled.
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For several years, Khaled, 15, Yasin, 17, and Abdi, 17, have been stuck in Somalia. They have been sent on a so-called upbringing journey by their parents.
The boys have no possibility of getting home, even though they are Swedish citizens.
– I miss Sweden, I think about it all the time. On my old friends, my family, I had a life there, says Abdi to Aftonbladet.
All three attended primary school and still had compulsory schooling when they were taken abroad.
“A short vacation”
At home in Sweden, Abdi often got into conflicts with other children. But eventually the quarrels began to escalate.
Abdi’s parents decided to send him to Somalia. He agreed to go, thinking he was going on vacation.
He was 14 years old when he was sent abroad during the summer vacation before starting ninth grade. When his classmates started school again, Abdi’s seat was empty.
– The first year in Somalia was perfectly fine. It was good but then I wanted to go back. But I couldn’t, he says.
Every year people are taken abroad against their will. Last year, 12 Swedes were sent on so-called educational trips, according to figures from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Aftonbladet has seen.
The Foreign Ministry has confirmed that only five of them have returned to Sweden. In most cases, it concerns people aged 15 to 20 years.
Despite repeated alarms and warning signals, children continue to be sent abroad.
FACTSDhaqan Celis – rearing camp
Dhaqan Celis is a well-known phenomenon among the Somali group worldwide. It is about parents who, for various reasons, think that their children need to return to their home country to be re-educated.
The term itself can be translated as “returning to the culture” and it can mean that children are sent to live with their relatives in Somalia. But in recent years, Dhaqan Celis has come to mean rearing camps, where children live under strict routines and receive Islamic education.
Read more”Deciding when you eat”
In Somalia, Abdi was enrolled in a “Dhaqan Celis” camp, a rearing camp for, among other things, Western children.
– Many had been imprisoned there for several years. It is like a prison for children who come from abroad. They decide when to eat and if you do something wrong you will be beaten down.
The children are not allowed to leave the camp or have contact with anyone outside. Smuggling a mobile phone or trying to escape can have major consequences, says Abdi.
A few weeks after Abdi was enrolled at the camp, he was beaten by the staff. Abdi told his parents, who decided that he should be discharged from there.
Instead, he was allowed to live with his relatives in Somalia.
Did you meet other Swedish children at the camp?
– Yes, there were many from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and some from Great Britain. The oldest guy from Sweden was 24 and the youngest was 14 years old.
“Be like a dead person”
But Abdi is not alone.
Khaled was 13 years old when he traveled to Somalia with his mother and sister. He thought that the purpose of the trip was to visit relatives and then return home to Sweden. Now Khaled has been there for two years.
– My mother had my passport, she just drew. I lived with relatives but I had many problems there, we didn’t understand each other.
– They told me that I should start at a school to learn the Koran but I said no, I didn’t want to be there.
Just over a year later, Khaled’s mother returned. She told him that it was time for him to go home to Sweden. But instead, Khaled was sent to an internment camp against his will.
“Couldn’t even walk”
– I didn’t know anything, she said we were going back so I went with them. They took me to another city where they locked me up.
What was it like in there?
– There are no rules there. I started arguing with everyone, they took me into a room and beat me. I couldn’t even walk, my feet were chained. I was chained for a month.
What did you think when you lived there?
– Life was just shit, you couldn’t do anything and you were angry all the time. I was like a dead person.
Khaled had to sleep on the floor in a cramped room with many other people. During the day, they were taught the Koran and the meals consisted of bread, rice or macaroni.
On two occasions, Khaled tried to escape.
– I got really sick there so I had to sleep outside. I saw a chance, the door was open. I ran out but they caught me. There were too many guards everywhere, you couldn’t go anywhere. The second time I jumped over the wall but they caught me again.
What did they do then?
– They beat me, they chained me. It was crazy.
Five months later, Khaled was released. Inside the camp, he met several other Swedish children.
“Missed a lot”
Right now, Khaled is staying with some relatives. Since he was sent to Somalia, he has had to move around a lot between different relatives and cities.
– It feels like nothing to me. I can’t do anything about it. There are no emotions inside me anymore, I’m not angry, happy or anything.
Do you feel like you’ve missed out on a lot?
– Of course, I would start high school now. I’ve missed a lot, if I go back I’ll have to work extra hard to catch up. I’m forgetting Swedish. I miss everything in Sweden. It’s fucking hot here, I hate the sun.
– My father used to send me money. They keep saying “we will come” but they never come.
Ended up in the wrong company
Just over four years ago, 17-year-old Yasin was told by his parents that they were going on a trip to his native Somalia.
The parents explained to him that they were going to visit relatives, but Yasin remained in Somalia.
He believes that the reason was that he had fallen into the wrong company at home in Sweden.
– Many of the teenagers back home in Sweden made a lot of mistakes. They didn’t go to school, they started selling drugs and it got very close to me somehow. We lived in the same area and my parents were afraid that I would go the same way they did, he says.
The boy ended up in a boarding school.
As a 13 year old, being left alone like that must have been pretty hard?
– The first year was very difficult when my parents went back. It was very difficult to get started in life. Now I have learned that I have to accept the situation or I will be sad. That’s why I try to think positively.
Not just Swedish children
Due to the security situation in Somalia, there is no Swedish embassy in the country. Children who are taken there against their will need to contact the Swedish embassy in Nairobi in Kenya in order to possibly get help in getting home again.
The towns the boys are in are controlled by clans who decide who can leave or enter the area, the boys say.
If the boys do manage to escape, they may have to cross Al-Shabab-controlled areas on their way to Nairobi.
It is not only Swedish children who are sent on educational trips to Somalia. In addition to Khaled, Yasin and Abdi, Aftonbladet has been in contact with several other boys from different countries such as Norway, the USA and the Netherlands.
– Children are deceived here. This is human trafficking, it is done against the children’s will. Then when they go back to their countries they are completely scarred, they have missed a lot, says Abdi.
Why do parents send their children to their home country?
– The Somali parents, in their mind they think they are doing something good, that they come here so their children can be Somalis but their children will never be Somalis. The child was not born in Somalia and is not raised in Somalia.
Yasin, Khaled and Abdi are actually called something else.
Footnote: A few months after the interview, Abdi came back to Sweden.