British Miss Universe model says people need to #StandwithSomalia if newspapers don’t

Friday October 20, 2017

Muna Jama, the model who represented Britain at this year’s Miss Universe contest, has urged everyone to show their solidarity for Somalia after Saturday’s horrific terror attack.

At least 300 people were killed and another 200 injured when a lorry bomb was detonated in the centre of Mogadishu.

Five days later, people in the city are still clearing away the rubble – and the charred remains of their loved ones – from the city. Around 165 people have had to be buried without being identified, as their bodies were so burned they were beyond recognition.

Muna, who is a British woman of Somalian heritage, made history in August by becoming the first Miss Universe contestant to wear a kaftan rather than a bikini. As well as having spent time campaigning in the country, Muna has a lot of family and friends living in Somalia – but after the attack happened she struggled to find information about it online. But she told Metro.co.uk she later realised that, where the mainstream media fails, the general public needs to step in.

It’s shocking because a typical Saturday in the western world is a day filled with happiness – it’s a day to recharge, to meet up with your family and your loved ones. So to hear what happened in Somalia, considering I’m British-Somali myself, is just shocking,’ she said.

It was overwhelming for myself and my loved ones because we’re over here, and there’s nothing that at the time we felt like we could do. ‘The numbers from the attack are just horrendous. Amongst the victims are young boys, young girls. ‘Myself, I recently came back from Somalia earlier this year when I was campaigning out there against illegal migration, and I bore witness to the severe drought and ongoing famine, and that’s something the people of Somalia are currently dealing with, still. ‘So many Somalis are homeless – and then, for this terror attack to happen… I guess we were all taken aback.’

Muna added that the show of solidarity on social media that she’s seen has almost made up for the relative lack of traditional media coverage. She said: ‘Just today I saw a message of solidarity sent all the way from Brazil. I know it’s not in a newspaper, but it’s still in the media in a way, because it’s on social media. ‘

We need more people to not sit in silence, to use their platforms to speak to one another.’ Muna recently joined the conversation by adding a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #StandwithSomalia. Now, she wants people to use that hashtag to share images and information from the scene, as well as support from around the world.