The Importance of the Xawilaad for Somali in the Horn
Recently, there have been a few studies on the xawilaad system and the remittance flows it processes. None of these studies deals specifically with the function of the system for life in the camps, and they also do not examine the role it plays on household level in detail. Nevertheless, the great importance of the xawilaad for the Somali economy as well as for individual households does become clear. According to Montclos (2000), there is nothing exceptional about the fact that Somali migrants send money to their dependents living in the Horn in a very regular way: All communities abroad try to improve the living standard of members of the fam
They do not like mentioning amounts, either because they operate secretly in Africa, or because it might jeopardise the social aid allowances of Somalis in the West (Montclos 2000). A third factor that complicates getting reliable statistics, is that remittances are transferred in different forms and through different channels; they may be sent as cash or as goods, through official agencies, relatives or travellers. Whereas we should not ignore or exceptionalize refugees from other remittance sending migrants, this does not mean that there are no circumstances specific to their case. In neighbouring countries in the Horn, the migrant status of Somalis is often not regular and their financial networks are clandestine. What is outstanding about the Somali case, according to Montclos, is that there is a war going on in their native country, and as asylum seekers and refugees, they have an incomparably precarious status. Remittances have played a crucial part in the Somali economy for decades, but the sheer size of the current diaspora combined with recent technological developments in the field of telecommunication and the collapse of the Somali formal economy, have added weight to their importance. In the first place, it is helpful to know the size of the Somali diaspora, and I have already mentioned the difficulties in estimating this. The usual consequence is that they admit only very small amounts. Although remittances have become the critical source of hard currency for the country and individual households, the precise value of this economy is difficult to calculate for several reasons (Gundel 2002: 10). This attitude also prevails in Somalia, in order to conceal potential wealth from possible donors. Secondly, it is not easy to get the figures from the xawilaad offices themselves. In light of these facts, the amounts that the Somalis send are astonishingly large and frequent, and the transfers by xawilaad are made fast and with great efficiency (Montclos 2000).
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