Saturday 28th December 2019. Hundreds of young Somalis in Mogadishu were on their way to attain a education to better their lives.Having grown up in instability, war and constant terror attacks; Hundreds of young Somalis put their faith inn their book and pen and set out that morning in hopes of using their education to get a better life. An Al Shabab Bombing did not let that happen.

This attack in particular hurt something deep within both young and old Somalis everywhere alike.  Yet at that moment Somali Singer decided to use it to push his political agenda and incite hate. 

That very same day the fatal bombing attacks that took over 100 student lives. That very same day when the blood of the slaughtered was not yet dry. That very same day every somali across the Horn of Africa and across the world were mourning- BK decided to incite hate and use the suffering of Somalis everywhere at his concert to cause division. Not his first time, he is notorious in using his platform to continue to further his political agenda. 

At a time when atrocities are meant to unite us we cannot have Mohamed BK, a threat to somali peace, continue to preach division and hate. Furthermore, his political comments that insinuated the Somaliland government were behind the fatal bombing is a danger to British society and relations between Somalis themselves.

Regardless of your political identity as a British Somali: It contradicts our British and Somali values and we cannot have this man continuously use his platform to mock the dead, segregate Somalis and cause political tension. 

Revoke his visa. 

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits discrimination, thus obliging EU Member States to combat crimes motivated by racism, xenophobia, religious intolerance or by a person’s disability, sexual orientation or gender identity. 

Greater political will on the part of decision makers in the EU  Member States is necessary to counter pervasive prejudice against certain groups and compensate the damage this causes to victims, other members of the same group and society as a whole. Too many people across the EU are targets of abuse simply because of their – perceived and/ or real – origins, beliefs, life choices or physical appearance.

 In light of this, FRA has released two reports on hate crime that together provide a comparative analysis of the existing legal framework, individual experiences of crime with a bias motivation and the state of official data collection throughout the 27 EU Member States. Making hate crime visible in the European Union: acknowledging victims’ rights highlights the fundamental rights aspects of hate crime, offers a comparative analysis of official data collection mechanisms and considers how the scope of official data collection can be broadened. EU-MIDIS Data in Focus 6: Minorities as victims of crime presents data on respondents’ experiences of victimisation across five crime types, from burglary to serious harassment.