The Bay Area – a new home for Myanmar refugees
21 February 2010
152 CommentsThere has been a rapid influx of Burmese refugees into the US since 2008 after the Department of Homeland Security decided to ease the regulations on “political asylum seekers” from Burma in late 2007.
Earlier they settled in New York, Minneapolis and even Fort Wayne, Texas.
But in recent times, more Burmese refugees are being settled in the West Coast, mainly Oakland, in the East Bay area. 
This resettlement has been a mixed blessing for these refugees, who have fled the tyranny of a military junta and have usually languished for many years in refugee camps in Thailand, under the constant threat of deportation.
However, being planted in crime riddled neighborhoods with high unemployment and lacking good public amenities does not fit in to the notion of the “land of freedom” promised to these refugees by resettlement organizations.
The East Bay Express in its recent article titled Still Seeking Refuge tells us the story of Ale Sho, who had been in the US for just three weeks when he and his neighbor were accosted while returning to their apartments from an Asian grocery.
“We had many, many hard times in Burma,” said Ale Sho, a lanky man in his thirties who spent the prior fourteen years in a Thai refugee camp. “When we came to the US we thought it will be free, so we feel more upset about [the robbery]. We thought we would be released from the hard times, but we are still unsafe.”
In the last three years alone, about 2,000 such refugees have arrived in California, with more than 300 resettling in the East Bay, most of them in Oakland. What does their future hold?
The politics of resettlement
The US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Eric Schwartz last month announced that The United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) would almost double the amount of the grants given to NGO’s to resettle political refugees.
“The Reception and Placement per capita grant has been increased from $900 to $1,800, which will be effective as of January 1, 2010. This is intended to address challenges refugees face in their first 30-90 days in the United States. It will directly benefit refugees and the network of local non-profit affiliates that serve them.” Mr. Schwartz said in a letter to nongovernmental organizations linked with the resettlement process.
But the catch is “Affiliates providing aid to refugees will have some flexibility in how those funds are allocated, and will also be able to use up to $700 per capita to meet costs related to management of this program. This $700 figure — about a 50% increase over the current management ceiling — should address the need to lower client-to-staff ratios..” and other capacity building initiatives to strengthen the quality of support given to those who resettle.
Whether this would simply increase the number being resettled or actually improve the quality of support rendered is yet to be seen.
Recent reporting on the global plight of Burmese Refugees
Burmese Refugees Persecuted in Bangladesh – NY TIMES
A very rich story, well told, Poornima — it’s news to most people, you give a broad overview and zero in on a real person’s story, provide a set of sources and resources. I’d be happy to see this on the front page of the New York Times.
24 February 2010 at 2:59 am