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Somali community's shame over compatriot's behaviour

As recently reported, a Somali asylum seeker was arrested and subsequently charged for molesting women on a bus on the way to Steinhausen while under the influence of drink. Now the Somali community wants to apologise to the people of Zug for the actions of one of their members.
 
Acting as a representative of the 80-strong Somali community in the canton, 23-year-old Abdulla Sheikh Abdirahman turned up at the offices of the Neue Zuger Zeitung to apologise for his compatriot's behaviour. "What he did was just not right," he said. "We are greatly ashamed about what happened and we are truly sorry. The last thing we want is Swiss people to think that all Somalis are like him. In our culture, too, it is not right to molest women in this way."
 
Abdirahman heard about what had happened through the newspaper and immediately made telephone calls to try and find out who the perpetrator was. "None of the other Somalis knew and they did not publish his name in the paper," he said. Then several of them got together to discuss the case with some going to the asylum seekers' home in Steinhausen, which was mentioned in reports. "He said he was drunk and could not remember anything but he did not apologise," said Abdirahman.
 
Indeed, the culprit did not admit his guilt to the police. According to police spokesman Marcel Schlatter, the man has been charged with sexual molestation but he cannot be deported as his application for asylum is still ongoing.
 
The Somalis have now imposed their own punishment on the the perpetrator. "He is not to visit another Somali for the next 6 months; and as he does not know any Swiss people and cannot speak German he is now totally on his own. He must apologise for his actions."
 
Abdirahman said he could totally understand Swiss people being appalled by the man's actions. "If one of the women victims had been my sister, I would have been very angry," he said, and added that if another Somali had been on the bus, he would have laid into him. He felt it a shame that other passengers on the bus, apart from Christian Stauber, had not come the aid of the women. "We would like to thank him very much indeed," he said.
 
Now Abdirahman fears that the incident could have adverse ramifications on young Somalis looking for apprenticeships or on those seeking asylum. "Some Somalis are now staying at home in the evenings because they are ashamed about what the people of Zug will think about them. We very much appreciate the help we are being given by the people of Switzerland and Zug in particular. The reason we are here is because of the war which has been ravaging our country for the past 20 years. We want to be respected by Swiss people. We cannot over-emphasise how sorry we are about this incident. It will not happen again."
 
 
 
 


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