Minnesota Somalis Send Millions Home

Somali refugees in Minnesota have been wiring millions of dollars to their troubled homeland, and federal officials are investigating whether some of the money is buying weapons for warring clans, the Star Tribune reported Sunday.

Most of the money is humanitarian aid for people unable to leave the East African country, according to Somalis living in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area, the newspaper said.

However, some Somalis told the newspaper there is an organized collection system in Minnesota that pressures them into contributing for guns and clan-based militias.

At least $75 million has been sent to Somalia in the past four years, with an average of $2 million a month now leaving Minnesota for Middle Eastern banks, the newspaper said.

The investigation by the FBI, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Internal Revenue Service centers on how the money is collected, where it goes and who donates, the newspaper said, quoting people familiar with the inquiry.

Contributions to terrorist organizations are illegal if the donor knowingly gives money for a subversive purpose, said Mark Cangemi, head of INS investigations in Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakotas. But such an allegation can be difficult to prove, he said.

“I can confirm there are inquiries that we’re conducting on a routine basis, and it is a concern,” Cangemi said. “It is a concern not only in Minneapolis-St. Paul, but I would say it’s a global issue.”

Representatives of the FBI and the IRS would not comment. No charges have been filed, the Star Tribune said.

Somalis have had a growing presence in the Twin Cities since the mid-1990s. Estimates of their numbers in the state range from 10,000 to 50,000.

Funds Flowing to a Country Torn by Chaos

The flow of money from Minnesota Somalis to Africa appears considerably more organized than similar efforts by other immigrant groups, the Star Tribune said.

“I think the Somalis are doing this at a greater level than perhaps some other groups,” said Dawn Calabia, spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Washington, D.C. She said Somalia is a country with no safety nets.

Somalia recently established its first government since the 1991 overthrow of dictator Muhammad Siad Barre. War and famine in the 1990s left its people poor and homeless, and hundreds of thousands still live in refugee camps.

In 1992, President George Bush sent U.S. troops to Somalia to help ensure safe passage of humanitarian aid. However, the troops became entangled in a shooting war, and President Clinton withdrew the military after 18 U.S. soldiers were killed and 83 were injured in October 1993.

“Imagine a people with no central government. It is chaos,” said Mohamed Ali Nor, owner of Dahab-shil Inc., a Somali money-transfer business in Minneapolis.

Abdi Samatar, who grew up in Somalia and is a geography professor at the University of Minnesota, said not all the money is humanitarian aid. “Some people are sending money to warlords,” he said.