‘Migrants don’t realise the difficulties of living abroad’

There are many ways to describe Fatumo Farah: she is a mother of three, a Master’s graduate in Business Administration and a Somali refugee who has been living in the Netherlands for the past 21 years. But above all, she is a source of inspiration, as well as information, for countless other migrants. As the executive director of HIRDA (Himilo Relief and Development Association), a Dutch-Somali NGO working on refugee relief, the 43-year-old is an example of how refugees can successfully integrate into other cultures and also become leaders and active ambassadors for their own communities and broader civil society. She was invited to Malta as part of Aditus Foundation and Integra Foundation’s Our Voice project, which aims to support refugee integration on the island. Yesterday, she met a number of Somali women living in Malta and talked publicly about refugee civic participation. Ms Farah has travelled to various countries to deliver her message on female empowerment, political participation and what she sees as the key to it all – education. “Education is extremely important. Through education, you get to know what your rights are. “It enables you to work, to sustain yourself and...