Jason Burke Africa correspondent
Wednesday July 13, 2022
Fishing boats anchored at Orobo beach in Mogadishu, Somalia. In the 1970s the city was known for its beaches, seafood and architecture, but difficult times were ahead. Photograph: Feisal Omar/Reuters
When Sir Mo Farah was living on the Horn of Africa in the
late 1980s and early 90s, it was one of the most unstable and troubled parts of
the continent.
Farah was born in 1983, at a moment of mounting chaos. He
has said that he lived for several years in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, when
very young, though he was not born there. The city was known in the 1970s for
its beaches, seafood and architecture and was still a destination for
adventurous travellers in the early years of the following decade.
But very difficult times were ahead. Despite efforts by the
authoritarian leftist president Siad Barre to accelerate economic development,
most Somalis continued to live precariously in deep poverty and, fuelled by
fierce tribal politics, discontent intensified. Involvement in cold war proxy
wars and military defeat by Soviet-backed neighbour Ethiopia also weakened the
regime.
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By the mid 1980s, a full-scale rebellion was under way,
which eventually ousted Barre in 1991. Anarchy followed as heavily armed
militias fought for control. Mogadishu suffered massive damage, and ordinary
civilians paid the highest price. When famine threatened, the UN dispatched
peacekeepers. These were opposed by some Somali factions and in 1993, 19 US
soldiers were killed in Mogadishu when they tried to seize the leader of a
powerful armed group.
By this time, Farah had not been in Somalia for some while.
Ten years ago, Farah’s brother told the Guardian their family had been forced
out of Mogadishu, fleeing north to Somaliland.
But the region was also chaotic, very poor and violent. The
late 1980s saw battles, atrocities and massacres in Somaliland between
pro-government troops and rebels.
“We were refugees. We left our business and money. We were
poor, living in a very small tent in a refugee camp. The country was destroyed
and there was every problem, like lack of food and power. Luckily Mo was a
healthy boy,” Faisal Farah, interviewed in his home 40km from Hargeisa, the
capital, said.
In 1991, after tens of thousands of people had died and the
Barre regime had fallen, Somaliland declared its independence – though it is
still not internationally recognised as a nation state.
Neighbouring Djibouti was relatively peaceful and so a haven
for many in the region. This is where Farah was sent to live with an uncle when
about eight, the athlete has now told the BBC. It was from this small,
strategically situated state that he was trafficked from the UK, he said.
The weak rule of law and instability the Horn of Africa has
provided opportunities for criminal networks for many decades – smuggling
charcoal, other precious resources and, above all, people. Some travelled in
the hope of bettering their lives, find safety from conflict or to flee
persecution. Others have been sent thousands of miles against their will.
Victims have long included – and still include – teenagers and young children.