Somaliland: “Sometimes I wake up screaming”- Former Somalia Child Soldier

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Somalilandsun- Violence has been a way of life in Somalia since the outbreak of the civil war in 1991, seeping deep into the nation’s marrow as clan conflict gradually morphed into an all-out war against the al-Qaeda affiliated Islamist group al-Shabab. “The layers of violence that people have had to digest is one of the key problems for building a peaceful and healthier society,” Laetitia Bader, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW), told me recently.

Most often, those who bear the life-long consequences are the poor, the politically marginalised, and young people. In particular, the thousands of children who must deal with the trauma of years on the front lines.

Tgis is according to Hassan Ghedi Santir a Somali‐Canadian journalist, novelist, and the author of “Maps of Exile,” a nonfiction account of African migration to Europe.in a opinion article titled Reporter’s Diary: Heal Somalia’s former child soldiers, heal a nation