Somali street patrol in Helsinki aims to narrow ethnic generation gap
Channel Patrol guides the youth home from the railway station before nightfall
By Otto Talvio
"The amateurs are on the move", a policeman guarding the railway station area declares. A group of people who seem to have enjoyed their pre-Christmas spirit emerge from the surrounding restaurants, queuing for taxis.
A group of a dozen orange-coated Somali men patrol the station area every Friday and Saturday night, a stone's throw away from the taxi queue. They keep an eye on Somali youths and try to prevent fights, if necessary.
They are volunteers, working for an organisation called Kanava Nuoriso ("Channel Youth").
An older man gets out of a car and approaches the group, carrying ten more orange vests for reinforcements. The men put on the vests over their own coats, and the official-looking group grows.
The spokesperson of the patrol is Mohmad Musse, 28, who has lived in Finland for 12 years. Musse, who is fluent in Finnish, is also a project worker for the city's Youth Department.
The first round of the Channel Patrol begins at the corner of the Sokos department store at 10.30 P.M.. The orange-clad men walk unhurriedly across the station into the Kaisaniemi park, where young people often congregate. Right now, however, there is not a soul in the park. The patrol stays in the empty park for a while, shivering. A police car passes. The most dangerous place in the city centre does not seem that dangerous tonight.
A few weeks ago, however, there was a hostile situation, says Musse. Some immigrant boys had a row at the station, but the patrol had managed to intervene.
Later, the fight had begun anew on the road to the park. One of the youths present had called the patrol, and they calmed down the situation together with the police.
The patrol moves on to Esplanadi. Apart from Kluuvi, the city centre is quiet, at least in terms of people the patrol is interested in.
On Mannerheimintie the patrol runs into a group of Somali youths, who are going to have coffee in a hamburger restaurant. Like most Somalis, they are also familiar to the patrolmen.
In a close-knit community, almost everyone knows each other. This is what the operation of the Channel Patrol is based on. The youths, dressed athletically, appear shy of the camera, but seem to get along well with the older men. They are peaceful, as are all the other Somali youths the group meets.
It seems like the presence of the patrol on the streets upholds the social system of the immigrant community more than anything else. This may also be behind the fact that there no Somali girls to be seen.
"We have no trouble with the girls," says Musse over some coffee.
"We do not run into girls often this late. It would be shameful for them to run into us in the street. They do not want to lose face in front of their community."
Having finished their hamburgers, the patrol returns to the corner of Sokos, which has become a hang-out for young people, thanks to the warmth of the indoor area.
A few familiar faces are present. Abdi, who is slightly under twenty, says he is on his way from football practice to meet some friends in town. The anorak-clad teenager smiles shyly and seems somewhat reserved. At first he did not even want to tell us his name. Later someone explains with a sly smile that Abdi is a very common name.
"I am probably going home soon, since there is nothing to do over here," he tells us. He mostly spends time at home and has never encountered trouble in town. "And I do not want to," he adds, just to make sure.
Not everyone is having such a peaceful evening. A slightly older man, Ali Abukar, appears. He seems to be somewhat intoxicated. He believes that the biggest problem in the centre of Helsinki is the racism of the police.
Ali Abukar digs out his cell phone and shows us his list of recent calls to support his argument. There was some sort of trouble in his apartment building in Sörnäinen, and he called the police.
Nobody came, but an hour and a half later someone called back. He attributes the delay to racism.
Friday has turned to Saturday.
The next operation for the party is to encourage all of the rest of the Somali teenagers at the station to go home. Some get a ride from the Channel workers, some are escorted to buses and trains. Nobody objects.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 29.11.2005
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 7.12.2005 - THIS WEEK |
 Somali street patrol in Helsinki aims to narrow ethnic generation gap |
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