Somalia: Dhusamareb Authorities Take in Al-Shabaab Defectors

SABAHI
Friday, November 29, 2013

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The large number of militants defecting from al-Shabaab has prompted Dhusamareb authorities to establish a rehabilitation centre for those who surrender to the local administration, District Commissioner Moallim Abdirahman Ali told Sabahi.

Ali made the announcement November 17th at an event in Dhusamareb where officials offered amnesty to a young man who defected from al-Shabaab.

"Mohamed Kafi Abdi Mohamud, 20, was a member of al-Shabaab for eight months," Ali said. "Afterwards, his family informed us that he had defected from al-Shabaab and was hiding out in a remote region and we then extended amnesty to him."

"I would like to be forgiven and become part of society," said Mohamud, who spoke at the event.

The new rehabilitation centre aims to benefit youth like Mohamud who have defected from al-Shabaab and have no place to turn, Ali said. It will provide training on the skills they need to re-integrate into the community.

The plan is to eventually construct a large centre capable of rehabilitating hundreds of young people at a time, but for now they will start with a rented house where they will rehabilitate about 50 youths, Ali said.

"This project is just starting," he said. "We are now busy with collecting funds from the people of Dhusamareb and we will later need support from the federal government and the international community to expand the project."

The rehabilitation training will focus on teaching youths patriotic values and the true traditions of Islam, Ali said.

"Al-Shabaab has erased the good customs of Islam and nationalism from the minds of the youth, therefore, our aim is to restore those two," he told Sabahi.

He said they would employ religious scholars, elders who can impart their knowledge of Somali culture, and people who are knowledgeable about patriotism and national unity.

"We want to erase from their minds the ideology of believing that anyone who is not part of them is an infidel," he said. "We will rehabilitate the ones who have not been accused of serious crimes for now."

He called on the young people who are part of al-Shabaab to quit the group and come back to their communities, promising that they would be secure and free.

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