The story below was recalled by a Somali refugee, Shuun*. All details and events described are accurate to the best of her recollection.

After years of separation, Somali family reconnects with eldest son

One day, in December of 2007, the town of Kismayo, in southern Somalia, was attacked as part of an ongoing war between two states. In this once peaceful town, people were now running for their lives, trying to flee to avoid being killed or taken hostage by the attackers. Shuun, a young girl at the time, and her family were caught in the midst of this chaos. However, as Shuun’s family was trying to round everyone before leaving town, the family’s eldest son, Faisal, was nowhere to be seen. Shuun asked the family to wait for one more day before fleeing, in hopes of Faisal showing up. But as time went by, the fighting in the town got worse, causing Shuun’s family to fear for their safety even more. They had no choice but to leave in order to stay alive. Shuun saw a vehicle driving away from town, and the family decided to follow it. With still no sign of Faisal, the rest of the family left Kismayo, leaving their eldest son behind. The vehicle they boarded ended up taking them to Dhobley, a town close to the Kenyan border. Shuun and her family fled over the Somalian border into Kenya, where they ended up in Dadaab, at the largest refugee camp in Kenya.

To Shuun, “family is an important part of society that assists one another and provides protection”. On that day back in December 2007, the person in charge of providing her with this protection and support, her brother Faisal, was taken away from her. Not having any idea about his whereabouts was especially hard for Shuun, as her older brother had always been the one responsible for taking care of her when they lived together.

For eight years, the family lived with no knowledge about what happened to Faisal back in December 2007. During these years, Shuun and her family felt very lonely.  Even though they had each other, they had lost a loved one that had also acted as the integral protection for the family.

In January 2015, Shuun learned about the REFUNITE platform from one of REFUNITE’s Outreach Volunteers at Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. The Outreach Volunteer, Abdi Ismail, helped her sign up and start the search for her long-lost brother, Faisal. Due to no immediate results from her multiple searches, Shuun at times felt discouraged with continuing her search. However, Abdi Ismail kept her motivated to keep looking for her missing brother. In July of the same year, seven months after having signed up on www.refunite.org, Shuun recognized a profile with her brother’s name, and decided to send him a message through the REFUNITE platform. Faisal answered.

Shuun recalls the excitement she felt when she realized that the person she had messaged really was Faisal. After eight years of separation, she had finally been reconnected with her older brother and number one protector. Shuun describes how the pain that had preoccupied her mind for the past seven years, due to the uncertainty and loss of her brother, was now gone. The siblings were overjoyed when they were finally able to talk to each other on the phone after all these years.

According to Shuun, back in 2007, Faisal also saw a vehicle leaving town for an unknown location, and realized he had to take any measure to get out of town, and jumped onboard. Faisal ended up in Buale, a city in the Middle Juba region of Somalia. There he was fortunate to get some financial support, and headed straight for South Africa. He has been residing there since, and is now working in business.

Although Shuun and Faisal have not reconnected in person yet, Shuun says her life has changed for the better now that she can communicate with her older brother once again. According to Shuun, Faisal has even promised to send the family some financial support until he can one day, hopefully, protect his family in person again. Even though some aid agencies and other relatives support Shuun, she explained that life in Dadaab is hard, and appreciates any extra help she can get from her brother.

The best thing about being reconnected with her brother, according to Shuun, is knowing where Faisal is, knowing that he is OK, and being able to talk to him on a regular basis. In total, this reconnection did not only help a brother and sister find each other, but helped reconnect a whole family of six people with their long-lost brother and son.

Shuun and her family are still looking for some of the family’s children back in Somalia, but feel encouraged after finding Faisal, that they will one day be reconnected with the remaining part of their family.

ABOUT THE INTERVIEW

*For security reasons, all names have been changed to protect the identities of the interviewee and those family members mentioned in this story.

This interview was conducted by Abdi Ismail Noor, an Outreach Volunteer at the Kambioos, Dadaab Refugee Camp, Kenya on July 11, 2015. The interview was conducted in Somali, and translated into English by Abdi.

For more information, please contact Alexandra Aparicio aa@refunite.org