Challenges Refugees Face: Language Barriers

           In trying to separate out the challenges refugees face I run into the dilemma that each factor is inextricably linked with the others. I will try to speak of the challenges in categories but feel it is necessary to present a glimpse of the tangled web of issues in order for us to understand just how heavy the combined weight is on the shoulders of a very resilient people who have already fought so hard.

            Imagine for a second that you have found yourself in a grocery store in a foreign country. Nothing looks familiar; the packages all have words from a conglomeration of different languages, none of which you can read. You would really like to ask someone exactly what piece of meat that is supposed to be, but you know that if you open your mouth you will be looked at with confusion and possibly contempt.
            Language is a complicated issue for many refugees; it is not that they are incapable of learning a new language, quite the opposite. Many refugees already speak two or three languages upon their arrival. Refugees usually have a tremendous desire to learn English well, but other things come first. According to the Lutheran Social Services, “The Federal government provides $425 per refugee to cover the costs of housing, household goods, food, and pocket money for the first 30 days. Beyond that, refugees may qualify for other public assistance programs such as Match Grant (an early employment program), TANF, or Refugee Cash Assistance.” This means that in addition to the loan they received to pay for their travel expenses to the United States, they must soon be able to pay for their housing and other needs. Therefore, the first priority that resettlement agencies push is the need for a stable job. Refugees take jobs that do not require proficient language skills in order to pay bills. Unfortunately, this tends to lock them into these types of jobs with little ability to study English for future advancement. I have a refugee friend who, after months of searching, found a job cooking in a Thai restaurant. He worked six days a week from 9am to 9pm, with a short break in the middle. Because he did not have a car or a driver’s license he had to rely on rides from friends or the bus (but the restaurant was thirty minutes away by car and there was not an easy bus route). His opportunity to study English was non-existent because of his efforts to support his family. There is another group of people, usually women, who stay home with children and do not have the ability to study English because of lack of childcare or lack of transportation.
            Lack of proficiency in English manifests its consequences in every area of life. The struggle is felt in jobs, at the hospital, at schools, related to housing and with government services. Refugees face many health appointments in the first few months of their arrival in the United States. Resettlement agencies attempt to provide translators for the first few months of services; however the supply of translators is far too limited for the demand. Because refugees arrive from many countries there is a plethora of languages spoken. Even refugees from the same country often speak completely different languages. For example there are refugees from Burma who are members of different ethnic groups; each ethnic group speaks its own distinct language and may or may not speak the national language. Sometimes people refuse to speak their national language because depending on the situation they escaped from it brings with it too many reminders of their brutal oppressors.  
             One side effect of parents not having the opportunity to learn English is that the burden of translation often falls to their children. Thomas Ginsberg explains in the Philadelphia Inquirer, “As old as immigration itself, interpreting by children can help parents survive but subvert family roles with ulcer-causing pressure. It can edify children but stall adults from learning English. It can relieve community services but exacerbate all kinds of ills, from truancy to medical errors.”It is amazing the burden that refugee children must carry, with sometimes fatal consequences. The effects of children translating cross over into the realm of health care, education, and psychological trauma.
            I can say first-hand that stumbling over how to ask for a glass of water in a new language can be a humiliating experience. As Mary Pipher explains in The Middle of Everywhere, “The intelligence, personality, and energy of new arrivals are submerged by their lack of English.” Educated people are reduced to struggle to express themselves in ways similar to a young child. Pipher also points out that, “Language is connected to both good judgment and to forming relationships. Humans trust or mistrust others on the basis of nuances, tonal variations, and small contradictions.” It is true that it is difficult to correctly read situations without language. It is also true that even when one is able to understand words, without an understanding of the culture comprehension can be out of reach. There were many times in Thailand when I would look at people thinking, “I understand the words you are saying, but I have no idea what you mean.” It is exhausting to constantly live in that foggy state of striving so hard to figure out what is going on.    
            Again imagine fleeing for your life because of persecution and ending up with your children in a new country…working to survive…being misunderstood…Let’s remember that no one likes not being able to speak the language of whatever country they are in and the reasons why some are unable to do so may be more complicated than we are originally able to observe.   
            Next we will take a look at another multi-faceted challenge refugees encounter in the United States…education.  

On These Shores: Refugees in the United States

            Living in Thailand afforded me the opportunity to experience living life in an unfamiliar environment. Moving to a country with no understanding of the language, no car, no friends, and no understanding of the culture proved extremely taxing. However, I soon began to study the language, was able to buy a junker car (with four roommates), build relationships with the Thai staff at my school, and learn from my students and friends different aspects of the culture. The fact that those opportunities were available to me changed my situation; life was often still twice as challenging as it would have been in my own familiar environment but those resources made life livable. It was in reflecting on those experiences that as newly returned to the United States myself, I began to desire to be a part of welcoming refugees.  Refugees are defined as people who because of persecution or a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion and are unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.

            I carry a burden for refugees because I have been given a glimpse of their confusion, their fear of the unknown. I am reminded of the major differences between my situation and that of refugees. My travel to Thailand was voluntary. Their travel is forced because of war, famine, persecution, etc. I had resources, financial and social. They often leave with next to nothing. I had the choice to leave if or when I so desired. They are not able to go back.

            As I began to meet refugee families in my area I began to see some of the struggles that plague those who seek safety in our nation. I began to see that sometimes a difficult situation is made that much more challenging because of a variety of factors. It is on behalf of my courageous friends, who fight so hard, that I am endeavoring to understand their difficult situation and advocate on their behalf. I will be posting a series of blogs outlining some of the main challenges facing refugees upon their arrival to our shores.

             There are two major biblical truths that make refugee care something all followers of Christ should care about.

            First, I believe it vital to impress upon our minds and hearts the fact that all humans are created in the image of God. The implication of that truth is that all men are equal in the eyes of God and must be treated with equal value. Daniel Groody writes, “When migrants are asked what they find most difficult about their situation, most of them - despite the grueling physical journeys they take - do not talk about the physical hardships but the deeper insults to their human worth. They often say that no suffering is worse than being treated as if they are dogs, as if they are not even human beings, as if they are no one to anyone. The Church cares so much about migration because it believes God cares about those like migrants who are so frequently stripped of their last shreds of God-given human dignity.”

            Second, the people of Israel were given the mission of being a blessing to the nations as they fulfilled the Law within their own community. Part of that Law clearly proclaimed God's heart for the vulnerable, among whom are foreigners. Leviticus 19:33-34 asserts, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” This mission of blessing the nations has been passed on to all Christians today and is exemplified by living out the ethic and character of God which still involves care for those foreigners in the land.

            “Refugees live in a divided world, between countries in which they cannot live, and countries which they may not enter.” ~ Caroline Moorehead in Human Cargo

            Refugees live in a precarious position. While some refugees live indefinitely in refugee camps or in countries surrounding their country of origin others are approved to be relocated to third countries. While this approval is surrounded by celebration it is almost always accompanied by great trepidation, since with this huge move people often intensely feel torn away from all they have known in exchange for the many unknowns of their host country. Of these host countries the United States receives the highest number of refugees. Take a look at the following illustrations to see some of the complexity of the process of becoming a refugee and being admitted to the United States.

            According to the Department of Homeland Security Office of Immigration Statistics Annual Flow Report: Refugees and Asylees, in 2012 refugees to the United States were mostly from Bhutan, Burma, Iraq, Somalia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, and Eritrea. The top three countries comprised seventy-one percent of the total refugees. In 2012 the states with the highest numbers of refugees were Texas, California, and New York. These statistics have changed somewhat from 2005 when the top five countries of origin were Somalia, Laos, Cuba, Russia, and Liberia. In 2005 the three states with the highest population of refugees were California, Minnesota, and Florida. Over the years we have seen fluctuating numbers of refugees from different countries settling in different states, yet each year there is a significant number of refugees (58,179 in 2012).

            Research is showing that no matter the country of origin or the state in which they settle a majority of refugees face the same set of challenges in adjusting to the United States. Challenges faced by refugees occur in every sphere of life whether social, physical, cultural, spiritual, mental, emotional or any combination of these.

            In the next post we'll take a look at one of the most daunting challenges faced by refugees...

 

                           ภาษา            言語                          idioma                              لغة

Hope for Change

Here is a glimpse of my mind these last months since I again set foot on US soil.

I've wondered...I've cried...I've judged...I've hoped...I've lost hope...I've questioned...I've held on...I've seen with new eyes...I've hurt...I've missed...I've struggled...and now...

I'm ready to hope again.

I'm ready to hope that change is coming and that we will be part of that change.

That we the church will step up. That we will open our eyes. That we will see the world as it truly is, not as the isolated bubble we have made it.

I can't tell you how I've struggled with my faith because the God we teach is not big enough to deal with this world.

With precious toddlers growing up alone on a sand bar between two countries or
girls who are sold as prostitutes by their families or
boys who are abused by the men who adopt them or
children who dig for roots because there is not enough food or
children who never know love or
ones who never get to go to school or
beautiful kids who dig in the trash heap day after day or
ones who grow up in refugee camps or
the ones who run for their lives after seeing their mothers murdered...

I could go on.

The injustices are many. The wounds run deep. The cries are loud.

And then...I see our world...of abundance and safety. Where we see too small and complain too loud.

And I wonder what are we doing? Why do we think that any of this matters?

I read in Amos how God condemns ritualistic worship, lack of social justice, and idolatry. And I see us in those words. I see today's church in those words. I see our idols of wealth, security, happiness, and possessions. Even worse than that I see our worship of "God" the one whom we've created and put in a box. The one who we think is okay with our turning blind eyes to the hurting next door as well as the hurting across the world. The "God" who affirms that our lives should be about pursuing financial stability for ourselves and the accumulation of more. The "God" who never challenges us to question cultural norms (even Christian cultural norms) or speak on behalf of the voiceless. The "God" who would never call us to be uncomfortable or to sacrifice.

I question how our view of God can be so small. I question why we would believe these lies because they are not from the Bible.

Yet, I have hope. That God is changing the American church...that there are those who will live counter culturally in order to shine the light of Christ to a truly hurting world.

I borrow the words of Martin Luther King Jr...

“And I call upon all men of good will to be maladjusted because it may well be the salvation of our world lies in the hands of the maladjusted. So let us be maladjusted, as maladjusted as the prophet Amos, who in the midst of the injustices of his day could cry out in words that echo across the centuries, ‘Let justice run down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Maladjusted, no one wants to be called that. Yet, I hope for American believers to become maladjusted. To pursue justice in their everyday lives. To live simply. To give generously. To live gratefully. To live sacrificially. To advocate. To seek biblical truth for the hard issues. To be courageous. To act. To use skills God has given us to fulfill specific needs on behalf of others. To seek friendships with the marginalized. To be stretched. To be willing. To be faithful. To be aware. To engage.

I think if we the church can do that, we will be agents of God's transforming work in the world. In the process we will be transformed as well.