by Maureen Sieh /The Post-Standard
Friday August 21, 2009, 10:08 AM
Syracuse, NY.----Abdullahi Ibrahim has been searching for a place to call home since being forced to leave Somalia in 1991 when rebel forces raided Somali Bantu villages during Somalia's the country's bloody civil war.
For centuries, Somali Bantus were persecuted because they are a minority clan -- descendants of slaves that were taken from northern Mozambique and neighboring East African countries in the 1800s. In Somalia, they are considered second-class citizens.
Ibrahim lived in a refugee camp in Kenya for more than 10 years before he received refugee status to come to the United States with his wife, Habiba Amir, and their two young children, Fatumo, 8, and Sidali, 7.
Thursday, Ibrahim and his two children were among 79 people who became naturalized as United States citizens during two ceremonies -- at the Onondaga County Courthouse and U.S. District Court.
"It's nice to have proof of a nationality," said Ibrahim, 33, director of the Somali Bantu Community of Syracuse. "You can enjoy whatever opportunities are available."
The new citizens came from more than 25 countries including Bosnia, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Sudan, Vietnam, China, Korea, Canada, Philippines, Serbia, Bangladesh, Mexico and India.
Somali native Mohamed Ibrahim -- not related to Abdullahi Ibrahim -- is glad that he's now a U.S. citizen like his wife, Marian Gedow, a refugee caseworker at Catholic Charities; and their five children. Mohamed Ibrahim was separated from his family for eight years -- 1994 to 2003 -- after they fled the war in Somalia. Gedow and the children lived in Pakistan before they were accepted as refugees to come to the United States in 2000.
It was while working with other Somali refugees in Syracuse that Gedow learned her husband was in Kenya. He came to America in 2004.
"I was thinking they were alive, but I don't know where," he said. "I was surprised when she called. I didn't believe it when I received the first call."
Annet O'Mara's eyes welled up with tears as she talked about fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a U.S. citizen. O'Mara immigrated to America from Malaysia in 1988 to study. She met her American husband, Donald O'Mara, when she was at Harvard University.
"It's been my dream ever since I entered this country," said O'Mara, who lives in Central Square and teaches English at some colleges in the area including State University College at Oswego and Morrisville State University. "It just means I can vote, serve on the jury, run for office if I want. I'm proud to be an American."
Diego Jara, a native of Costa Rica, joined the United StatesU.S. Army seven years ago because he's always wanted to serve the country.
Jara, who is stationed at Fort Drum. said he's glad he can now say, "I'm serving my country."
"To me, it's a sense of pride," said Diego, who served in Iraq from 2007 to 2008. "It feels like I can better say that I'm serving my country, now that I'm a citizen."
Laszlo Szakali left Hungary in 1996 to work as a chef at a Hungarian restaurant in Orlando, Fla. He worked at several other restaurants before settling in Syracuse. He's a chef at the Radisson Greens golf course in Baldwinsville.
"I grew up in a communist country, and I don't want to be a socialist," said Szakali, who lives in Bridegport. "It's a good thing to be an American."
Friday August 21, 2009, 10:08 AM
Syracuse, NY.----Abdullahi Ibrahim has been searching for a place to call home since being forced to leave Somalia in 1991 when rebel forces raided Somali Bantu villages during Somalia's the country's bloody civil war.
For centuries, Somali Bantus were persecuted because they are a minority clan -- descendants of slaves that were taken from northern Mozambique and neighboring East African countries in the 1800s. In Somalia, they are considered second-class citizens.
Ibrahim lived in a refugee camp in Kenya for more than 10 years before he received refugee status to come to the United States with his wife, Habiba Amir, and their two young children, Fatumo, 8, and Sidali, 7.
Thursday, Ibrahim and his two children were among 79 people who became naturalized as United States citizens during two ceremonies -- at the Onondaga County Courthouse and U.S. District Court.
"It's nice to have proof of a nationality," said Ibrahim, 33, director of the Somali Bantu Community of Syracuse. "You can enjoy whatever opportunities are available."
The new citizens came from more than 25 countries including Bosnia, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Sudan, Vietnam, China, Korea, Canada, Philippines, Serbia, Bangladesh, Mexico and India.
Somali native Mohamed Ibrahim -- not related to Abdullahi Ibrahim -- is glad that he's now a U.S. citizen like his wife, Marian Gedow, a refugee caseworker at Catholic Charities; and their five children. Mohamed Ibrahim was separated from his family for eight years -- 1994 to 2003 -- after they fled the war in Somalia. Gedow and the children lived in Pakistan before they were accepted as refugees to come to the United States in 2000.
It was while working with other Somali refugees in Syracuse that Gedow learned her husband was in Kenya. He came to America in 2004.
"I was thinking they were alive, but I don't know where," he said. "I was surprised when she called. I didn't believe it when I received the first call."
Annet O'Mara's eyes welled up with tears as she talked about fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a U.S. citizen. O'Mara immigrated to America from Malaysia in 1988 to study. She met her American husband, Donald O'Mara, when she was at Harvard University.
"It's been my dream ever since I entered this country," said O'Mara, who lives in Central Square and teaches English at some colleges in the area including State University College at Oswego and Morrisville State University. "It just means I can vote, serve on the jury, run for office if I want. I'm proud to be an American."
Diego Jara, a native of Costa Rica, joined the United StatesU.S. Army seven years ago because he's always wanted to serve the country.
Jara, who is stationed at Fort Drum. said he's glad he can now say, "I'm serving my country."
"To me, it's a sense of pride," said Diego, who served in Iraq from 2007 to 2008. "It feels like I can better say that I'm serving my country, now that I'm a citizen."
Laszlo Szakali left Hungary in 1996 to work as a chef at a Hungarian restaurant in Orlando, Fla. He worked at several other restaurants before settling in Syracuse. He's a chef at the Radisson Greens golf course in Baldwinsville.
"I grew up in a communist country, and I don't want to be a socialist," said Szakali, who lives in Bridegport. "It's a good thing to be an American."
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