About SORAG

  
 
The Somali community has a long standing history of residence in the United Kingdom. Somalis were among the first African ethnic communities to settle in Britain at the turn of the last century. Somalis who came here were mainly single men employed as seamen in the merchant navy and fought the two world wars alongside the British.

Following the outbreak of the civil wars in the Horn of Africa in the eighties, a different category of Somalis begun arriving in the UK. These were political refugees fleeing prosecution and repression in their own country. Many of these refugees arrived in Britain via refugee camps in Ethiopia and other neighbouring countries in the Horn of Africa, suffering from malnutrition, bereavement, disorientation, physical and mental disabilities and stress.

This influx of traumatised urban refugees comprised mainly women, children, single parents, adults and elderly people from all walks of life. The vast majority of these refugees cannot speak English and could not therefore communicate with the mainstream society. Such communication barrier has proven significant in isolating the vast majority of the Somali refugees from the mainstream society and in terms of taking advantage of the main services provided by statutory service providers.