I am grateful to my father for sending me to school, and that we moved from Somalia to Kenya, where I learned English.

I grew up in Somalia, in Saudi Arabia, in Ethiopia, and in Kenya. I came to Europe in 1992, when I was 22, and became a member of Parliament in Holland.

They decided to let immigrants in and I am an immigrant. They gave us a chance to participate in this country's life and I took it.

I don't have much in me left for Somalia, because the country is so broken, it's not realistic to daydream about it.

In 1985 as a teenager in Kenya, I was an adamant member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

I am not against migration. It is simply pragmatic to restrict migration, while at the same time encouraging integration and fighting discrimination. I support the idea of the free movement of goods, people, money and jobs in Europe.