While rehabilitation opens a window for Somalia’s youth to escape from the jihadists and nightmares of murder haunt the defectors of the Somali youth movement, poverty, unemployment, insecurity and loss of sense of humanity all form an ideal recipe for the “Somali Youth Movement” that attracts young people inside and outside the country, and promises them to implement Islamic law, before That they discover that they have fallen into a big trap, so they look for an opportunity to escape.
The Somali militant group Al-Shabab, which was founded in 2007, is no longer coherent since the Somali and African forces intensified their attacks on the movement’s strongholds in southern Somalia, in addition to the raids of US aircraft. The movement also clashed with several tribes after imposing royalties or what is known locally as zakat on their livestock, which led to the emergence of armed tribal militias; Al-Shabaab fighters became fighting on more than one front, which led to the reduction of its influence in many areas in the south of the country, and the defections in its ranks increased. Poverty and widespread unemployment among Somali youth, which reaches seventy percent, are two main factors that push young people to fall into the arms of the jihadist movement, which promises them financial temptations before they are brainwashed in specialized centers. However, coercion has become the only weapon used by the movement in recent times to recruit young men, after its failure to spread its ideology. Because of its attacks, which do not distinguish between military and civilian.
The recent escape of the movement’s fighters and their surrender to the government is a remarkable phenomenon. Taking advantage of this, presidential decrees were issued to pardon everyone who voluntarily abandons the movement’s ideology. On the other hand, security officials warned of the danger of complacency with the “repentant”, because they differ between those who are high risk and those who are low risk.
