Two Refugees from Burma Settle in Nelson

 

Hsa Moo, now a new resident of Nelson, in her role as a journalist in a refugee camp on the Thailand-Burma border, interviews two people from the Karen ethnic group who have just fled from their home in fear of the Burmese army.

Two women from a refugee camp on the Thailand-Burma border are now living in Nelson after having been granted refugee status by the Canadian government. The Nelson Refugee Committee is sponsoring them here and is committed to supporting the two women for one year. 

The refugees belong to the Karen ethnic indigenous group that has been persecuted and harassed by Burma’s military government for decades.

“They have spent their lives behind barbed wire in a refugee camp on the Burma-Thailand border,” says Randy Janzen, the Secretary-Treasurer of the Refugee Committee. “They are people without citizenship. It is illegal for them to leave the refugee camp because they are not recognized as Burmese or Thai.”

The Nelson Refugee Committee has found an apartment for the two women, and is assisting them daily in their adjustment to all aspects of life in Canada.

More detail on the background to their stay in Nelson can be found in a previous story posted at The Nelson Daily on March 18, 2012.

Htoo Paw, in her late 20s, was born in Burma. Her village was burned in 2000 and has been living in a refugee camp ever since. She has a good level of education, having completed high school and a special personal development course that taught English, computer literacy, and life skills. Her work experience includes teaching, childcare, care for the elderly and care for individuals with special needs.

Hsa Moo was born and raised in the camp more than 25 years ago. She is vice-president and programmer for the Karen Student Networking Group, is the producer of the Karen language Radio Free Asia in Mae La Oo Refugee Camp and is working as a social worker in her camp village. Hsa Moo has completed high school and a leadership and management course, and has recently received a diploma from the Australia Catholic University.

The two had been in Nelson just eight days when they sat down with The Nelson Daily to tell their story.

How did you end up living in a refugee camp?

Htoo Paw: When I lived in Burma, my village was in the conflict area, and the Burmese troops came into the village and arrested people and they tortured them. I was afraid—we knew that when the troops came we were going to be in danger.  I did not think this was wrong, I thought it was normal life. They would grab anyone they could get and ask them to go with them to carry their things or their ammunition or their food, and I thought this was normal because I did not know about the outside world.  

But then our house was burned down, I was 13 or 14, but I still thought, they can do this.

I did not witness this but we heard in the village that women were raped, and we were scared, and my friends had to marry military men because they came into the village and if they liked the girl, they would just take them, so my mother was very worried for us, and she said there is a refugee camp. So I came with other young women to the border to a refugee camp. I did not know, I had never known, there was a refugee camp. Then I found out more about refugee camps. In the refugee camp I found the women’s organization and I was able to attend training about human rights and democracy.

Hsa Moo: I was born in a refugee camp. My parents were from Burma and because of the fighting they could not stay there there and fled and came to the refugee camp and got married. When I was in the refugee camp the Burmese army came and burned down our house. I was only 8 years old. We had to flee and could not find each other, I stayed at home and could not find anyone, and the army came and they said, where are your parents, and I was really hungry and I asked for a snack and they said no. In the night-time they burned down our house. I was the only one left. But after two or three days we found each other, my parents came back. 

What is life like in a refugee camp?

Htoo Paw: The camp I came from is not close to a Thai city, it is about 3 hours away in a mountainous area. The camp is just a camp. We have small houses, we call it our home, but they are made of bamboo and the roofs are made of leaves. Each family has their own home but it is very close, we can hear each other very clearly. We are not allowed to go outside the camp, the Thai authorities don’t let you. There is a school provided by an international NGO and a hospital, not a proper one, just basic health care education. People do not have a chance to go out and work. Because there are schools and hospitals, some people work as teachers and medics. But for young people there is no more chance for them to continue their education because there is only high school, and then after high school there is a program for two years and then it is the end of their future, they have no opportunity to discover more. 

When was the first time you realized something had to be done, and you were going to take a leadership role?

Htoo Paw: After I joined the women’s organization I attended training for four months and then I thought, what we have is a dictatorship. Before that I did not know it was a dictatorship, and what they did to our village is not right, and so we have to do something to change this.

Hsa Moo: Since I started working with the student groups. But when I was young my mother told me about the Burmese torturing my grandfather and killing him. So I always, in my heart, felt I have to do something for my people. I am not like my other siblings. They didn’t get involved.

Can you describe the work you have been doing?

Hsa Moo: In the camp we have student groups and I was a student leader, and we are also working with some international NGOs. We were doing drama, publication, and KSNG radio, and kids programs. We found some funding for this group inside Karen state in Burma, and we have students there and we have leadership and management training for the students in the camps. We give media training to students, how to present, how to write a program, how to run the program. They have to be careful not to be too political because the Thai government might shut them down. Everything is related to politics. I have been a journalist reporting on the situation. 

In our community there are not many journalists. Things happened a lot but no one reported it for us, so I thought I had to do some reporting about my community to let others know. 

Htoo Paw: There are many community-based organizations and mine is a women’s group. We provide services for women, like literacy programs, because there are so many women, especially women in the refugee camps, who are illiterate. They had no chance to go to school, so we set up the program for them. The program is for children too, we have a nursery school because we want the women to be able to have skills in community work. In the refugee camp the families are so big. Each each family average is four children, so for the women, if we want to encourage them to work in the community, we need to provide a service that helps them to get out of the house, so we have the nursery school. 

We have other activities like sewing training, and other vocational training, because there are no jobs, so we provide that training so they can make some money. And we have a program called income generation. It is where we provide women training and we provide materials for them and we sell for them. They can get clothes and food for their family. Because in a refugee camp there only rice, fish paste (one of the main foods the Karen eat), chili, and beans provided by the international NGOs, but no other food. To get meat and vegetables they need more money so with the training they can weave and they can get a small of amount of money. So my organization has been working to support women in order to do things for their community and their family, not just stay at home.

What are your plans now?

Htoo Paw: We know it will not be easy, we thought about this before we left, because we already heard the stories from other people who came to Canada— they said we will  have to work hard to survive. And we have to adjust to another culture and this is what we are going to do, so the first year will be easier because we have the support group, but after a year we will have to work very hard and we will find opportunities to work part time and we want more education, so we will work hard and seek opportunities to study.

KSNG Radio has a website here.  And click here for a video about the station.

The photos below show Hsa Moo teaching journalism in a refugee camp, and in the KSNG radio station.

Source : http://thenelsondaily.com/news

Midland adapts to growing refugee community

 

Chaney Mitchell

Burmese Chin Family

After a year of waiting, Burmese Chin refugees Zung and Biak Thang stand outside their new Midland home June 14, with children Gary, 7, and Livingstone, 3. Chaney Mitchell/Reporter-Telegram

 It feels like a dream, said Biak Chhungi Thang and her husband Zung Lian Thang while sitting in their living room. Two months ago, the couple and their two children invited friends over to celebrate their move into a three-bedroom house in south Midland. They cooked food from their homeland and displayed a large banner with the words of Psalm 34:08 written in their native tongue: "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him."
The Thangs are refugees from the Chin State in western Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Tens of thousands of Chin have fled the country since 1988 because of a "highly authoritarian military regime" responsible for human rights abuses based on religion, ethnicity and political beliefs, according to a 2010 Human Rights Report on the country by the U.S. Department of State.
Individuals who are granted refugee status overseas by the U.S. are brought back for resettlement by the Department of State, which partners with local resettlement agencies to provide any resources the refugees might need upon arrival. The nearest resettlement agency to Midland is in Abilene, but Chin still come in droves to Midland as they hear about the availability of jobs.
"I think Midland is attractive from a job perspective," said Midland city councilman John James. "And that's great because we are starving for workers."
The International Rescue Committee, which has regional resettlement offices in Abilene and Dallas, realized the growing need in Midland for refugee services, and established a satellite program earlier this year to provide ESL and basic skills classes. Other literacy programs in town have found the need in recent years to add Burmese Chin-targeted ESL classes to their schedules.
An increasing amount of Chin like the Thangs have found their own versions of the American dream in Midland by quickly obtaining jobs, houses and cars, thanks to the local booming economy. Biak Chhungi Thang works at T&T Donuts in the morning, and Zun Lian Thang stocks the shelves at H-E-B in the evenings. They both found work after moving to Midland from Jacksonville, Fla. in 2009 to live with Zun Lian Thang's uncle. They were referred to Casa de Amigos, and Biak Chhungi Thang instantly bonded with intake specialist Ida Fletcher. Fletcher taught the woman to drive, complete applications and work with Midland Community Development Corporation's housing counselor to buy a house of their own.
"They're hard-working," said Fletcher, who since has become the organization's community services coordinator. "They follow through on anything we talk about to benefit the family. I don't feel like their caseworker. They're my friends."
In their own backyard
Visiting Thailand on a mission trip in early 2008 was an eye opening experience for First Presbyterian Church member Kelli Sherman. The group traveled at one point to the country's border with Myanmar to visit a refugee camp and saw the desperate situation first hand.
"You go on this trip, and you think, 'Wow, how can I help?'" she said. "It's just heartbreaking and you think, 'Now I go back to my life that's so wonderful, so easy.'"
The group left on a plane days later, not sure what they could do from thousands of miles away. The answer came when the woman who had led the mission team, Margaret Purvis, was shopping at H-E-B and recognized the face and language of a man behind the sushi bar. She had found someone from Myanmar in her own town.
The man, Duh "Louie" Luai, said there were around 30 Burmese Chin in Midland who were receiving help from a local Pentecostal church and meeting for worship services in his apartment. He had become overwhelmed with the amount of needs of his community, Sherman said, so First Presbyterian members jumped in to help. Sherman helped Chin individuals make appointments, register kids for school and fill out applications.
It was like fighting fires, Sherman said, almost in a literal sense. The complex where Luai held worship services was engulfed in flames in 2008, destroying 16 units, two of which belonged to Burmese families. First Presbyterian helped raise money to replace the lost equipment, and the growing Chin continued to worship.
"As things came up we tried to deal with things as we could," Sherman said. "It was a learning process; every day it seemed like multiple things were new."
The Chin population continued to grow, and is growing at such a rapid pace that there is no official number for how many Chin refugees are in town. Those who work with the three established Chin-focused Christian churches around town say attendance suggests the current population to be around 600.
"It's just grown and grown and grown as more people have come into the country and they realize they have family here and there's jobs," Sherman said.
Neighborhood norms
Traditional brick houses line the block of Imperial Avenue just north of Lee High School. Nestled between the earth-toned facades is a starkly bright symbol of the increasingly changing neighborhood; a house painted baby blue with red trim. Similar in color to brightly-painted houses in Malaysia, where many Burmese refugees go after fleeing their country, the house has become a visual symbol of neighbors' struggles to maintain neighborhood norms in the midst of changing cultural dynamics.
The Chin family-owned house, along with allegations of violations of the city code and neighborhood norms, was the subject of "intense" phone calls and emails being circulated among the neighborhood and community leaders this spring in reference to new Chin neighbors, according to James. The councilman agreed to facilitate a town hall-style meeting for the neighborhood that involved leaders of the local Burmese community.
"There's a broad interest, and I share it, in being the welcoming community that Midland is," James said. "There is this similar interest, just as broad, in saying, 'And here's the way you behave in neighborhoods.'"
Older neighborhoods like the one on Imperial Avenue are called "neighborhoods in transition" from a planning perspective, according to James. While some in the neighborhood still have deep roots in the homes where they raised their kids, others are just moving in to vacant homes whose previous owners have moved on to more expensive neighborhoods.
"You have this mix of people who have been there a long time and this mix of new folks," he said. "Sometimes they don't have the same appreciation for the neighborhood."
The contrast and misunderstandings are even more stark with the Burmese, James said, because they are trying to adjust to so many cultural norms at once. One Chin family once kept a live chicken in the yard before preparing it for dinner, and soon realized their neighbors found the accompanying loud noises unacceptable. Another church leader in the Chin community said he tries to let his neighbors know when he's having large meetings so they know more cars may be parked on the street.
"My sense is that by people coming together and having these conversations and talking you get more accomplished, especially when there's nothing illegal at play, you have to talk to your neighbor," James said.
"My sense is that by people coming together and having these conversations and talking you get more accomplished, especially when there's nothing illegal at play, you have to talk to your neighbor," James said.
Many Burmese quickly make the move to Midland for the availability of jobs once arriving in the U.S., and miss the benefits of acclimating in an official resettlement location that provides resources and classes in regard to local driving, laws and social norms.
"They come and they get jobs immediately, so they ended up not going through those courses," James said. "They may settle slightly in Abilene but find out there are jobs in Midland and immediately come working 60 to 70 hours. They never go though the process -- it's voluntary -- but that would complete their assimilation training, for lack of a better term. When you start talking about parking issues and neighborhood issues, that's all foreign to them."
James hopes one answer to the neighborhood's struggles will be to arrange for long-time neighbors and newcomers to meet at a house in the neighborhood to share food and fellowship in an event similar to "National Night Out." The next step will be to build a system where the leaders of the Burmese community can help ensure others are going through a program involving code enforcement and basic skills to help them understand city codes and neighborhood norms.
Leading a community
"They don't know my culture; they never see my culture. If they saw my culture, they would understand," said Solomon Kham, 31, while sipping on a soda in the cafeteria at H-E-B.
The Chin refugee crosses his arms.
"In my culture, this means I respect you," he explained. "Some people don't know that."
Kham is considered a leader in the Chin community for both his proficiency in English and his role as president of Midland Chin Baptist Church. He's helped dozens of recently arrived refugees find work, housing and other resources to help them acculturate in their new community. Many people don't understand they need to build up credit before buying a house, he explained, and others don't even have proper identification papers yet. He receives an occasional call late at night from Chin who unknowingly run into trouble with the law and have no way of communicating with law enforcement. He and leaders from the two other Chin congregations in town are in the process of arranging a presentation to take place on Aug. 5 for the refugee community about American culture and laws.
"I like to help people," he said. "Is it overwhelming? Yeah."
After spending time in Maryland and Amarillo Kham moved to Midland in 2009 at the insistence of his girlfriend, who had moved to Midland with her family. There was a small Chin community here, she said, about 30 to 40 people, and there were a lot of jobs. He immediately found work at TOMCAT USA, then began working at Century Graphics & Signs, where he now serves as a supervisor. He is now married to his former girlfriend, and together they have a 1-year-old son.
Kham graduated from Midland College in May with an Associate of Applied Science Degree in petroleum technology, and is continuing his studies at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in petroleum engineering. Being able to continue his education defines the American dream for Kham, who was forcibly recruited into the Burmese Army before fleeing the country in 2003. His parents still live there, and he hopes to bring everything he's learned back home someday.
"I believe when my country gets good, I'll go back to Burma," he said.
Sara Higgins can be reached at shiggins@mrt.com.

Source :http://www.mywesttexas.com

MALAYSIA : EMPOWER REFUGEES

From The Editor’s Desk

Who are refugees?

“A refugee is a person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”

~ 1951 Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees, Article 1(a) (2)
Dear readers,

We are the Social Protection Fund team of the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur and welcome to our inaugural newsletter. Wait, don’t go away. We are just about to tell you that this newsletter, unlike any other is not selling you anything, only seeking your compassion.

In Malaysia, there are some 96,000 refugee men, women and children who struggle every day to rebuild their lives safely and in dignity. They are mostly Mothers with courage!

Being a refugee and single mother in a foreign land with different language and culture can be a nightmare. UNHCR works with many refugee single mothers from Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Somali and Afghanistan living in Malaysia. Most of them live in poverty and it’s extremely difficult to get a decent paid job.

At times they have very young children and it hinders them from any employment. Sometimes, the older children have to sacrifice their education and care for the younger from Myanmar, but there are also refugees from other countries like Sri Lanka, Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

They need your help. Refugees work hard every day to support themselves and each other in so many different ways – education, livelihoods, healthcare,
community development and many other areas. What they need is our understanding and support so that they are better able to help themselves.

You can help them to help themselves. Be the one to empower refugees.

siblings while their mother at work.

Some mothers face eviction when they can’t afford to pay their room rent. These mothers often ignore their health until it becomes intolerable!

Throughout the month of March 2012, SPF team met with many such MOMS of various age – despite all these challenges none of them sounded as though they have given up on life!

Instead some of them decided to start Day Care Centers to help other
mothers.

Refugee Community Clean-up activity @ ‘gotong-royong’ in Setapak & Imbi, KL
Peaceful Co-Existence

A smile from a neighbor would make our day, not a grim face or a blank stare!!

Being a refugee, that smile is hard to earn. We found a way….

In October 2011, SPF (UNHCR) team launched a community clean-up competition. Refugee groups from 23 locations in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor took part. The result was gratifying. Smiles from neighbors, policemen, and people on the street. This revealed to us the importance of the co-existence activities for a more harmonious environment.

We took a step forward. Since the year started, we approached:

Refugee communities - to organize such competitions to sustain the good values.

o State assemblymen’s offices in Kota Damansara and Kajang in Selangor,
and Prai in Penang for joint venture projects among refugees and local people – it looks promising.

o Non-profit institutions like VTOC and Soroptimist International for integration projects – they are keen.

o We believe the peaceful co- existence program would enhance the local community’s acceptance of the refugees in Malaysia.

Special Message

In a very real way, the SPF programme places
the decision-making control in the hands of
refugees in determining what works best for
their own communities and what works best in
implementing these ideas. Concrete benefits of
the SPF programme

Capacity building - it enhances skills and
education of the refugee community
regardless of their age, gender and
ethnic. Their quality of life improves.

o Enhance community mobilization and unity through
projects such as community centers, recreational and
support programs.

 

o Peaceful co-existence among the refugee communities and with local communities via various joint activities.

o Be the one to empower refugees….
 

1. Full financial sponsorship of a project 

2. Partial financial sponsorship of a project

3. In kind support for a project

Social Protection Fund, UNHCR

Known as SPF, we started in July 2009. Our aim is to
assist and promote self help and independence among the refugee communities in Malaysia. As of Feb 2012, we have provided grants to 242 community projects that are located in Penang, Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Terengganu, Pahang, Negri Sembilan and Johor.

The projects range from income generating projects, skills training (computer, tailoring and handicraft) and community services and development (shelter, youth club and peaceful co-existence). These projects benefit about 35,000 people.

We seek your support to directly sponsor some of the existing projects or new projects either financially or in kind. 

For more information, contact us at:

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Tel: 03-2141 1322 (ext 209 @ 210)
Website: www.unhcr.org.my or
http://spfunhcr.wordpress.com or
www.facebook.com/unhcr.spf