On July 1st, Somalia marked 65 years of independence. It was a day of patriotic reflection, of remembering the Somali Youth League (SYL), the young visionaries who dared to imagine a sovereign nation long before independence was won. But this year’s celebration carried a sobering contradiction. While more than 40,000 Somali students sat for national secondary school exams—a testament to the resilience and aspiration of the country’s youth—two recent graduates drowned trying to migrate abroad in search of work. Read more