Dokument #1212283
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Autor)
An associate professor of anthropology at
Colby College in Waterville, Maine, who specializes in the southern
Somali clans, stated that Maay Maay is a language spoken by clans
in the inter-riverine area between the Shabeelle and the Jubba
rivers (23 Sept. 1998).. The clan families in this area are mainly
the Rahanweyn and the Digil but "there are also other groups who
speak Maay Maay, such as many "Bantu" villagers along the Jubba and
Shabeelle who may not have Somali clan affiliations." The associate
professor further stated that due to recent migrations, there "are
certainly" Maay Maay speakers in other parts of Somalia
(ibid.).
A history professor at the University of
Pennyslvania, in Philadelphia, a specialist in the history of
southern Somalia, corroborated the above information (24 Sept.
1998). He added that there are sub, and sub-sub dialects of Maay
Maay spoken by the Jiiddu, who live in the southwestern part of the
inter-riverine area. He stated that according to some Somalia
historians, the Maay Maay speakers are the oldest inhabitants of
the Horn of Africa. Historically, they raised cattle but also
practised other farming.
The professor stated that the Maay Maay
speakers were not "well-connected" because the majority did not
leave the region to go to the city or outside Somalia to get a
western education. Consequently, the Maay Maay speakers were
under-represented at the national level, in the civil service and
the police, both in the colonial administration and the governments
after independence (ibid.).
A large majority did not have contact with
people outside their area of residence and they had no known
kinsmen outside the country, stated the professor. Consequently,
during the Somali war of 1991, many Maay Maay speakers found
themselves in camps in Baidoa and other feeding centres inside
Somalia (ibid.). After this displacement, their properties were
expropriated. As a result, according to the professor, the Maay
Maay speakers have lost control of their freedom to earn a living
and control their lives (ibid.).
The professor stated that more recently,
the Rahanweyn clans have organized themselves into a political
party. For information this topic, please consult the numerous
Responses on the Rahanweyn, available at Regional Documentation
Centres.
Ethnologue estimates that in 1992,
there were between 700,000 and 1,500,000 speakers of Maay Maay
dialects including the Digil dialect. The language is spoken in
Gedo, Middle and Lower Shabeelle , Middle and Lower Jubba, Baay and
Baakol (1992, 366). One of the Maay Maay dialects, the Af Helledi,
"is a secret language used by hunters. Used by the Tunni, Jiiddu,
Garre and Dabarre as second language" (ibid.).
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is
not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any
particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Associate professor of anthropology,
Colby College, Waterville, Maine. Specialist in Somali southern
clans. 23 September 1998. Letter to the Research Directorate.
Ethnologue: Languages of the
World. 1992. 12th edition. Edited by Barbara F. Grimes.
Dallas, Tex.: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
History professor, University of
Pennyslvania, Philadelphia. Specialist in history of southern
Somalia. 24 September 1994. Telephone interview.