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.
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
SO interesting! Keep it up! (Is this info from your research project?)
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