Islamist insurgents in Somalia have banned one of the last forms of entertainment in the area: video games. Consoles must be hidden away, and establishments like cyber cafes and arcades have been forced to close their doors.
The Hezb al-Islam group, currently at war with the Somalia's federal government, circulated an announcement for the ban recently, preparing for the ban to take effect Thursday:
"Starting two days after this statement's date of issue, all video game playing centres in the areas under Hezb al-Islam control should be closed and playing video games will be prohibited.
"Video games are designed in such a way that they destroy our social traditions and for that reason, anybody found ignoring this order will be punished and equipment will be confiscated."
With movies and sports already on the blacklist, and satellite TV prohibited in many areas, there is little left for young people to do... for fun, anyway. While the group claims the bans are to preserve culture, locals are certain it is another step toward pushing young men and boys into military service.
"Who knows what else the children are going to do now," said Abdi Moge, an older resident the village of Elashabiyaha. "It's not as if there was proper education for them. The more they are prevented from playing, the more likely they are to join the fighting."
It's unclear how people will be punished for gaming, but individuals caught dancing to traditional tunes have received beatings, and men who trim their beards are arrested. Kids who've been seen playing sports seem to receive less harsh punishments, fortunately.
"We used to watch movies. They were banned. Now the PlayStations we had fun with are also banned. This country is not for young people like me," said 19-year-old Abdirahman Hirsi of Lafole.
Basically, Hezb al-Islam is attempting to bore the locals into fighting.
"They have basically banned everything that is fun, so we feel increasingly bored," one boy said.
Source:AFP
Alternate Source:GamePolitics
Sections:Console Games, PC Games
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