Ilhan Omar's family risked a four-day sea voyage that killed scores of others to escape Somalia's civil war on the first leg of their journey to America, the Daily Mail can reveal, as her immigration story comes under renewed scrutiny.
asserted
story → risk → scrutiny
Omar, who represents Minnesota's 5th District, fled Somalia with her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, when she was around eight years old, boarding a traditional wooden fishing dhow to escape a violent militia as Somalia descended into civil war in 1991.
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Somalia → represent → 1991
Omar's mother, Fadhuma Abukar Haji Hussein, had died when she was two, leaving her father and grandfather to raise her as the youngest of seven children.
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she → die → children
Omar has said the family escaped together after their compound came under attack.
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compound → say → attack
The family arrived in the port of Malindi, in northern Kenya, together with dozens of other refugees after a journey along the Horn of Africa in which boats sank, claiming more than 100 lives.
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boats → arrive → lives
Omar's father, a former army officer, was being pursued by Hawiye militiamen who had toppled Siad Barre, a dictator whose forces killed tens of thousands of civilians in the late 1980s.
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forces → pursue → 1980s
Now, a former Kenyan engineer has told the Daily Mail how Omar's family had been forced to escape as the Somali capital of Mogadishu collapsed into anarchy.
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capital → tell → anarchy
'In one boat 120 people drowned.
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people → drown → boat
Nobody was rescued,' said Nurien Hatimy, who helped build the refugee camp where the family was housed.
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family → rescue → camp
Omar's early life and immigration history are at the center of a federal criminal probe, with Department of Homeland Security investigators examining whether her late father lied or omitted information on immigration forms.
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father → examine → forms
Rep. Ilhan Omar has claimed she obtained US citizenship through her Somali-born father, Nur Omar Mohamed, who died in 2020, though no records of her or her father's naturalization have been found
Ilhan Omar (center) as a young girl. At the center of the immigration probe is Omar's birth year, which has appeared as both 1981 and 1982 in official records.
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which → claim → records
Her staff had it changed from 1981 to 1982 on her Minnesota legislature biography in May 2019.
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it → have → May
Omar, who represents the Minnesota's 5th District, fled Somalia with her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, in a traditional wooden fishing dhow (file photo) to flee capture by a violent militia as Somalia descended into civil war in 1991
The probe hinges on Omar's birth year, which has appeared as both 1981 and 1982 in official records.
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which → represent → records
Her staff had it changed from 1981 to 1982 on her Minnesota legislature biography in May 2019.
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it → have → May
The year is significant because Omar says she became a citizen in 2000 at 17 through her father's naturalization, a route closed to anyone 18 or over.
There are also unresolved questions over her 2009 marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, a British citizen alleged to be her brother, which she denies.
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she → say → which
Federal agents raided her home in Washington DC last week, seizing her phone and passport.
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agents → raid → phone
Omar called it 'an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.'
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Omar → call → enforcement
In a fundraising video on Tuesday night, two weeks before the November 3 midterms, she told followers: 'We're not going to be intimidated.
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We → tell → followers
We're not going to be silenced.
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We → go → ?
Trump has denied any role.
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Trump → deny → role
'I think she's a terrible person, but that's really up to the DOJ.
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that → think → DOJ
I have nothing to do with it,' he told reporters at the White House.
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he → have → House
Hatimy told the Daily Mail that as Mogadishu fell to rebels, members of Omar's Daroodi tribe were forced to risk the high seas because all flights out of the capital had been grounded.
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flights → tell → capital
Two years later, Mogadishu became the scene of the battle immortalized in the movie Black Hawk Down, in which 18 American soldiers were killed fighting militiamen loyal to warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.
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soldiers → become → Aidid
Hatimy was directly involved with the construction of the Utange refugee camp outside Mombasa, where he took a direct interest in the welfare of the occupants – including Omar's family.
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he → involve → family
They are believed to have boarded a dhow, the sort of traditional vessel that has sailed the Red Sea for hundreds of years, at the Somali port of Barawa in early 1991.
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that → believe → 1991
Hatimy explained: 'Some of the refugees from Barawa, including members of the Daroodi tribe, fled to Kenya by road and by sea as there were no airlines operating in that country to help anybody escape the civil war.
'
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anybody → explain → war
Unluckily, some boats capsized in the sea during the four-day journey, leaving most of passengers drowned ...
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boats → capsize → passengers
Hatimy, who is a part of an ethnic Somali community in Kenya, recalled how Ilhan's father, Nur Omar Mohamed, and his family were lucky to have survived the journey and that their boat docked at the Indian Ocean port of Malindi.
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boat → recall → Malindi
Former Kenyan engineer, Nurien Hatimy has told the Daily Mail how Omar's family had been forced to escape from the Somali capital Mogadishu collapsed into anarchy (Source: Obtained by the Daily Mail)
Somali refugees walk at the new Ifo-extension in Dadaab, Kenya, in 2011.
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refugees → tell → 2011
Omar and her family were finally settled at the huge Dadaab refugee complex in the arid north of the country, where more than 400,000 mostly Somali refugees were held.
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refugees → settle → country
A young Somali refugee walks beside a makeshift shelter at the Dadaab refugee camp in north eastern Kenya, on April 3, 2011
Omar's father Nur Omar Mohamed (center) at her swearing in ceremony with Speaker Nancy Pelosi in January 2019
Ilhan Omar in her youth.
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refugee → walk → youth
Nurien Hatimy said that he could not recall how many children Nur Omar Mohamed had with him, but he remembered a young girl of about eight years old who used to follow him during the distribution of food at the camp
The family were initially housed at the small St Anne transit camp in Mombasa and then moved to the bigger Utange camp outside the city.
Omar and her family were finally settled at the huge Dadaab refugee complex in the arid north of the country, where more than 400,000 mostly Somali refugees were held.
Hatimy said that he could not recall how many children Nur Omar Mohamed had with him, but he remembered a young girl of about eight years old who used to follow him during the distribution of food at the camp.
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who → say → camp
I cannot recall the name of any child of Nur Omar Mohamed, but what I still remember is that he was one of the former ruling class who had taken refuge in Kenya and had to run away from the Hawiye tribe militia which had seized power,
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which → recall → power
' Hatimy said.
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Hatimy → say → ?
As part of an ethnic Somali community, Hatimy worked closely with the Mombasa governor Shariff Nassir to welcome refugees fleeing the civil war, arriving at the ancient city of Mombasa and other ports by fishing dhows.
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Hatimy → work → dhows
Hatimy used his engineering skills to plan and construct the Utange Refugee Camp in Mombasa for Somali refugees in 1991.
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Hatimy → use → 1991
He said that, like other refugees who made their way to other countries, Omar should count herself lucky that their boats managed to reach Kenya, because many did not survive the journey.
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many → say → journey
Nur Omar Mohamed was among hundreds of thousands of refugees who were given identity cards and taken to the sprawling Dadaab camp with his children, where a US agent working with the United Nations offered him and his family sanctuary.
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agent → give → sanctuary
Omar married Ahmed Hirsi (pictured together) in 2002 in a religious ceremony that was not recognized by law.
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that → marry → law
…and 30 more, not listed.
The Aporia
