The Hidden History of Somali Bantu

A community that used to live in southern Somalia was named “Somali Bantu." Throughout their history, Somali Bantus faced discrimination from the people of Somalia, so did they cope with it? This article talks about the real history of Somali Bantus, their appearance, their lifestyle, and their lives among Somalis. Before the Civil War, they led very respectable and decent lives, but the Somali Civil War changed this. The civil war of the 1990s was used as a pretext to steal their land and property; during the war, many Bantus were beaten and murdered. They were treated like animals, and their rights were violated. The women were raped and even killed if they showed any resistance. The Bantus were scared of Somalis, and that’s why they didn’t stand up to them. The people of Somalia had taken everything from them. They migrated to Kenya, and many of the Bantu in refugee camps applied for asylum in the United States. They were officially classified as "persecuted," and then the United States opened its doors in 2003 to settle many of the Bantu.

Somali Bantu people have adopted different types of occupations. The Bantus reside in southern Somalia in an area of agricultural concentration, in particular around and between the Juba and Shabelle Rivers. There are eighteen administrative regions in Somalia, nine of which used to be owned by Somali Bantu. They are traditionally engaged in agricultural work, although they have also taken up various other occupations such as arranging cars or boats, carpentry, working in factories, and painting. They communicate in two dialects, including the Mai-Mai, which is a commonly used dialect and is spoken by all Somali Bantus. The other dialect is known as Zigua, which is spoken by a single group. There may be more dialects used by Somali Bantus, but these two are the most popular among them.

Somali Bantus are different from Somalis in many ways. The Somali Bantus are social, ethnically, and physically not quite the same as the Somalis. The Somali Bantu people are in good health and have high stature. They have a sturdy, muscular physique; they are intensely powerful and have greater components. They have a big nose, broad nose, wide nose, flat nose, and Afro hair, thick hair, twisted hair, and kinky hair. Most of them have darker skin, just like other Africans. As compared to the Somalis, most of them have dark skin too, but they have thin noses, and most of them are have softer hair. Their body stature is weak, and most of them not usually found in good health. The vast majority of Somalis population are unhealthy thin and tall, looking like they are sick. Therefore, the Somali Bantus are stronger in physical appearance than the Somalis.

Although Somali Bantus lived in Somalia, these people have a different living than the Somalis. The ways Somali Bantus and Somali people behave are opposite of one another, in terms of their patience and violent activities. The Somali Bantu people are cowards, afraid to commit suicide or spread violence through their community. They can’t be convinced to do so even with a lot of wealth. Further, they have a lack of courage, defensive abilities, and the tactics of self-defense. For instance, if someone is killing their child, they will never stop the killer. However, the people from Somalia do not act in similar ways as they are quite tough and have self-defense abilities. They commit suicide at will and can kill other people when they have a gun or knife. Also, they will do anything for money, even if it means disbelieving their faith or murdering their sibling or race. Although, they have poor living conditions; Furthermore, most of them beg for a living or else steal goods and food to raise their children. Therefore, it's believed that the people of Somalia are more courageous than the Somali Bantu people.

There are two major languages in Somalia: Mai and Maha. The Somali Bantu predominantly speak Mai, and the dominant Somali clans speak Maha. If you read about Somalia, you will only find what was written by the ruling group. It is not as they claim; their society is neither homogeneous nor egalitarian. Further, that there are people who have one language, one culture, one tradition, and one religion is a myth. Somalis live in diverse communities. There are different groups, there are different languages, and there are different societies, but the dominant clan's language is imposed on every other Somali group. All the other languages are denied, refused, or viewed as insignificant. The Bantu and the Somalis can each understand and speak a little of the other's language, but they cannot express themselves the way they want.

In the past, Bantus were considered a very respectable community in Somalia. Some Somalis used to work for the Bantus, and others showed up at their houses to beg, but when the civil war broke out, the Bantus became defenseless and were deprived of their property by the Somali armed forces. After the civil war, the Bantus were evicted from their homes. After Somalis had stolen everything from the Bantu, they had no choice but to work for them to earn a living. Therefore, it is said that the civil war entirely changed the social standing Somali Bantus.

Somali Bantus faced many forms of discrimination in Somalia. President Siad Barre and all other Somalian presidents have marginalized Bantus. They rejected them and refused to enforce their rights, seeing them as an insignificant minority. According to them, Bantus are not Somalis or Muslim, so they should be deprived of their wealth, even though they know that all Bantus are Muslims and Somalia is their homeland too. Before the civil war began in Somalia, President Siad Barre used to take the wealth of Somali Bantu by force and separate it according to a 2/1 ratio, dividing the stolen wealth among his people because most of them were destitute and the government lacked the funds to feed them. Somalis have borne such an awful jealousy, hatefulness, and arrogance toward the Bantus since Nasiib Buundo died; it's like a disease spreading inside their hearts. It is impossible to cure, and it will never be possible until the Day of Judgment, just like the jealousy and the hatefulness that the devil has towards the father of humankind and his children. They never wanted Somali Bantus' to own anything in Somalia, and that’s why they always demonstrated harsh behaviors toward Somali Bantus.

The purpose of the civil war in Somalia was to massacre all of the Bantus people and replace them with other Somalis. The Somalis didn't know that Allah is the only one who can exterminate an entire race because he is the one who created them. Furthermore, whenever a group of tyrants plans something evil toward another group, Allah always has a way of saving them. They asked the Bantu people to give up their guns, and they told the Bantus that the government was trying to make the country peaceful. The Bantu people were unaware of the Somalis' evil plan, and they carried their weapons to them until it's too late. But Allah was a witness to their plan, and He return their plot against each other before  they attacked the Bantu people,. President Siad Barre and his general, Farrah Aidid, had an argument over who was going to take the Somali Bantu land, and they had a big war with each other. The one thing they had in common was the desire to remove the Somali Bantus' property. However, the problem was that each tribe wanted to rule itself after they had taken the land. They started a war against each other: the Somalis robbed, raped, tortured, and killed one another. Every time a tribe was defeated, they would show up at Bantu houses and then steal the Bantus' wealth to fight back against their enemy. Therefore, deceivers will never succeed with their plot, and they always end up a failure.

The vast majority of the Somali populations are a bunch of losers and ignorant. They just believe it and do it, whatever lies their hypocrite leaders, and elders tell them or to do, even if it's against their faith. They claim that they are Muslims, but their actions are completely against the Islamic religion. There's a day will come when the youths are complaining about their hypocrite leaders, and elders in the hell fire. Their leader and elders are the ones who misled them from the path of Allah, and they ask Allah to increase their punishment. And the leaders and elders will reply back if they hadn't helped us the sin we wouldn't continue, and they ask Allah to give them double punishment too. They will never have a sense of peace until the Day of Judgment, unless if they repent their mistakes, but they are too arrogant to repent. They think being arrogant will give them pride, even though their role models, the devil and the pharaoh, couldn't find any dignity for being a point of proud and ended up being as losers.

The people of Somalia always wanted to steal belongings of the Somali Bantus. Sometimes, a group of Somalis arms come to the Bantus area for stealing, while The Bantus are praying, and they stopped them from praying, and they told them to get up and look around you, do you see God? This gun is your God it can kill you, and it can save your life so obey the gun, and bring everything you have. The Somalis arms used to force the Bantu people to carry the weight of the stolen items; sometimes, the things weighed over 50 pounds. The Bantu people feared Somalis, who made them lift the stolen goods. Often, some of them tried to fight back against the destructive forces, but the majority tried not to fight back. The reason was the fear of the assailants, who would come back to kill the people if they showed resistance. The Somali Bantus were so scared of Somalis that they did not resist their cruelty.

The families of Somali Bantu went through the worst maltreatment in the history of humankind. Most of the Somali imams and the ignorant among them used to show up at the Bantu houses in different groups again and again; day and night they gang raped the Bantu women in front of their families. Sometimes, when they got tired of abusing the Bantu women, they would shoot at their private parts with a gun and watched them die from the torment. After the torment, the Bantus would just bury their dead and remain silent as if a disaster killed their people. No one talks about how almost 30% of the Somali Bantu population had been killed for no reason at the hands of Somalis. They used to call them all kinds of derogatory names, and the Bantu people remained silent because if any families tried to stop the assaults and harassments, they would be immediately killed. The Somali Bantu women also suffered from inhuman acts that were executed by the people of Somalia. May the curse of Allah be upon those who destroyed the life of Somali Bantu, in this life and the next.

Somali Bantus had no other options in Somalia and searched for other places to shelter their families. A large number of Somali Bantus fled from their properties and homes without knowing where they would be going. The Bantus traveled between two and four weeks to reach the Kenyan border. Some of the Bantus did not survive, as they were killed by hyenas, lions, and other animals. As they made a beeline for the Kenyan border, they consumed tree leaves and waited for rain to drink and cook. Many of them remained alive by cooking with and drinking muddy and diseased water. Numerous maladies, similar to paleness, spread all over Somalia, where there was a quota for Bantus in the Kenyan healing centers. Many Somali Bantus succeeded in reaching Kenya, but they faced many hardships during this journey.

The Somali Bantus were still treated horribly, even in the United Nations camps. In 1991, a significant portion of the Somali Bantus and other Somalis followed them into the UNHCR refugee camps. Their situation is similar to the story of Prophet Adam and the devil. For example, the only reason the evil followed him was to ruin his life, and the same applies to the Somalis. However, they were isolated into three distinct outcast camps. Expecting to discover security in the exile camps, the Bantus settled down; yet after living for just a few years in those camps, they encountered issues comparable to those they had faced in Somalia, including rape, assault, and stolen whatever they had. This usually happened when Bantu women went to the woods to gather logs for fuel. The Bantu faced many security issues in the United Nations camps.

Indeed, the physical attacks on Somali Bantus did not stop when they left Somalia. In 1997, the Bantu Chieftains, one from each of the three primary refugee camps, asked for the UNHCR to extradite them to a new place like Mozambique or Malawi or resettle them to a more secure location, but the UNHCR authorities from the three camps rejected the request. After the dismissal, Somali Bantu leaders sent a memo to Australian an authority also repudiated. The Bantus then contacted US authorities in 1998, and their demands were satisfied. In 1999, the United States government consented to resettle around 12,000 Somali Bantus in the United States. Different authorities of the world were contacted by the Somali Bantus to offer them help.

The US government agreed to give shelter to many of the Bantus. Most Somalis in the refugee camps never thought that Somali Bantu people would ever resettle in the United States. When the Somalis heard the news, they regretted their mistakes, and they implored the Bantu to receive their money and marry their daughters on the condition that they take them to the United States with them. However, the Bantu rejected their offers, and Somalis wished they were Bantu on that day. They cursed themselves for their behavior toward the Bantu.

When the resettlement had started, the safety of the Bantu in the evacuated camps jeopardized because Somalis had become jealous again and threatened to set off bombs on the streets. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) chose to move Bantus to other camps in Kenya that were safer. In 2000, they moved to a new camp called Kakuma, where the Bantu stayed for three years before they flew to the US. Around 12,000 Somali Bantu families currently reside in the US and live a lifestyle they or their ancestors had never dreamed.

Somalis usually make up stories about the Bantu to convince their children their behavior was justified. When the Somali government found out that Somali Bantu people went to America, they feared that they might come back for their land. Therefore, they created fiction stories, books, and articles after stealing everything Somali Bantu own in Somalia, saying that Somali Bantu people are not native to the land. 200 years ago, Arab traffickers took all Bantu people out of their homes in Mozambique, Malawi, and Tanzania to make them slaves for the Somalis. They are teaching their children this fairy tale, and the children of the few Somali Bantu left in the country, and they are also posting all over on the Internet on sites like Google and Wikipedia. The question is, if the Somali Bantu people are not native to the land, why are they residing in the agricultural area of the country? And, if the Somali people are the only natives of the land, why are they living in a barren part of the country? The Somalis don't want to tell the truth because they are too arrogant to admit it.

Many Somalis travel to Egypt and Libya to get to America. Their plan is to make money so that they can build on the land they have stolen from Somali Bantus, but they face the same struggles they made the Bantus go through. The Egyptians kill their women and children and remove their organs and sell them. Libyan people enslave them; they torture men and rape women in front of their families. If they try to stop the assaults, they are killed. They have never succeeded with their plans, as they ruined the Somali Bantu's lives and destroyed their dignity for no reason. They have never been well-respected, wherever they go, and they end up living with grief, loneliness, sadness, hopelessness, misery, torture, and death. Also, there is a great punishment waiting for them on the Day of Judgment. The reason for this is because they were damned by the mercy of Allah, just like the Qarun. God is punishing them in Egypt, Libya, and all over the world because of their evil actions toward the Bantus.

Somalis refused to recognize themselves as Africans. The Somalis consider discriminate against every African with a big or flat nose or twisted or thick hair; they call them "slaves." They deny their African origin; they want to be Arab, but the Arabs have rejected them. Whenever they visit any of the Arab countries, Somali people are mistreated and looked down on. They get the same treatment that other Africans are getting in the Arab countries; sometimes even worse, like slaves. The only time they are accepted as Africans, he or she or may instantly turn around, from Arab to African if he or she encountered discrimination of identity denial, from the group they were claiming. Isn't it better for them to be accepted as Africans rather than begging the Arabs to assert their identity? If Somalis agreed to African recognition for themselves, they wouldn’t suffer this much.

In this article, I described in accurate and vivid details, in which the dominant clans will never reveal the origin and whereabouts of the Somali Bantu people. The poor conditions of Somali Bantu people after the civil war were assessed. Furthermore, I research analyses the efforts that they made for their survival. I intended to evaluate their strength; I admire their faith, tranquility, reliance, patience, and courage to face all their hardship. If anyone has hardship in this life, God knows everything, and he might remove the misery or torture they are experiencing and replace it with a better place, in this life or the next. The problems the victims had, God returned to their oppressors. In his benevolence, God took the Bantu from their misery and blessed them with abundance. One should never look down on any other human being because they might become one's savior one day. We should always treat one another in the same way we want to be treated. God loves those who spread peace, not those who spread violence and corruption. The government of the United States provided a safe and reliable place for the Bantu so that they could live a normal life like the rest of the people in the country. Thank You Very Much!

Abdihakim wrote this Article.

Author's Note

Kakuma, IOM, Nasiib, Buundo, Farrah, Aidid, Siad, Barre,