Category Archives: Refugees

Only three students survived.

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Guest post by Janet Blair, DCF SunCoast Refugee Services. As we approach World Refugee Day on June 20, we will share a few stories from local refugees & former refugees about their experiences. This story is about Elida Mujic, Client Relations Coordinator at DCF and former Bosnian refugee.

The Class of 1993 in Gorazde, Bosnia—only three of these students survived

The Class of 1993 in Gorazde, Bosnia—only three of these students survived

Elida Mujic is packing for what should have been her 20th high school reunion.  Except that a few months after this picture was taken, in April of 1992, a war erupted in Bosnia that changed everything for Elida and her classmates. Instead of graduating side by side, most of these students lost their lives in an ethnic war that left approximately 100,000 people dead from Muslim, Croatian and Serbian backgrounds.

Elida is just 17 years old in the photo above, standing in the front row, second to the right. Ironically she is wearing a blue jacket with an American flag on it. She had no idea that soon after this picture was taken she would be fleeing her country under an assumed name and that years later end up as a refugee in the United States.

For her, the war started on a day that Elida says was just like any other day, April 12th of 1992. She was on the school bus going home that afternoon when suddenly the driver stopped due to a barricade in the road. The students ended up being held hostage on the bus for over three hours. None of their parents knew where they were. Eventually the students were released to go home and learned that a war had broken out across their country. Her home was never safe again. From that point on there were always grenades going off and guns shooting all around them. It was particularly unsafe for young women, who were being taken to camps and sexually assaulted.

To protect her, Elida’s parents found a way for her to be smuggled out of Bosnia across the border to Serbia, She had to pretend to be Serbian, change her name and pretend not to be who she was. Serbian friends of the family took her in as their daughter when she changed her identity. She had to get rid of anything that identified her as a Muslim, even her own diary. Then the Serbian family came and took me to their home pretending she was their daughter while her parents stayed behind. She became a refugee in Serbia under the name of Bojana when she was 17.

At the time, Elida didn’t understand why her parents made her leave – in fact she was very angry with them. It’s only now as a parent of two children that she understands the difficult decision her parents made ended up saving her life. Now she feels blessed to have made it and to have the opportunity to make something of her life. She realized that many others were never given that chance. Some had such short lives and were taken way too soon. She saw babies and 5-year-old neighbor children killed. She saw children who woke up to find their mother dead.

Elida, her husband Damir and children Armand and Ariana on a trip to Ellis Island in 2010

Elida, her husband Damir and children Armand and Ariana on a trip to Ellis Island in 2010.

So Elida’s actual graduation day was held away from her family and friends in the neighboring country of Serbia in 1993 alongside students she had only known for nine months. Now, 20 years later, Elida is going home to Gorazde, Bosnia for a bittersweet class reunion with those who should have been her fellow graduates in June of 1993.  Through using social media like Facebook, the survivors have been able to locate at least 60 people from several schools who would have been graduating seniors in 1993.  On June 29th these sixty survivors will come together from the places all over the world where they scattered during the war, and commemorate a graduation that should have taken place. It will be a celebration for those who survived and a time of remembering those who are missing.

For Elida, the trip will also be an opportunity to share her history with her children, 15-year-old Armand and 10-year-old Ariana. Although Elida became a U.S. citizen in 2006, she wants her children to feel connected to her home country and her refugee experience so they know where they came from and what brought them here. You never know what a person has lived through and what made them come to America. World Refugee Day is a chance every year to recognize refugees who have been through so much. The refugee programs touch so many who are looking for a new beginning here in this country.

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“Ask me where I am going, not where I am from”

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RefugeesThe 2013 Refugees Services Consultation is going on this week and brings together hundreds of refugees and organizations from all over the state for training, networking, presentations and more. The people at the consultation amazing. Here are just a few of their stories. As one of them said today, “Ask me where I am going, not where I am from.” Get ready to be inspired:

Dode Ackey
City: Tampa
Date of Arrival in the US: September 1996
Dode came to the U.S. from the West African country of Benin in 1996. Dode was 18 years old when his family fled Togo to escape political violence and moved to the neighboring country of the Republic of Benin. Since he was not a resident of Benin his only option was to pay for private schooling and he did this by selling shirts in the local market. When he arrived in Tampa Bay, Dode worked in a local warehouse and put a priority on obtaining his education. Since his arrival, Dode has graduated with a B.S. in Finance and two Masters Degrees, an MBA from University of South Florida and an MS in Accounting from the University of Tampa, all with full honors. Dode has gone on to obtain a position at Citigroup Inc. where he now works as an Assistant Vice President and to teach accounting classes at Hillsborough Community College. In addition, Dode and his wife started the Africa International University Foundation, whose mission is to launch non-profit schools in the Republic of Benin and Niger where literacy levels are still only 10% and there is no free education for middle and high school youth. Dode speaks four languages fluently, is a U.S. citizen and is married to Florence Ackey, who works with the Refugee Health Clinic. Together they have two children.

Christy Sui 
City: Tampa
Date of Arrival in the US: June 2007
Christy is a Burmese of Chin ethnicity and she came to the U.S. from Malaysia in 2007. Christy’s work with refugees began in Malaysia where she had been studying for her B.A. when Burmese refugees began arriving there to apply for official refugee status. Christy speaks 10 different Burmese languages and so began serving as a volunteer interpreter for UNHCR in Malaysia. She also worked as a secretary for the Chin Refugee center and taught Chin students at the Chin Student Association. Christy eventually got a job with UNHCR in Malaysia where she worked until leaving for the U.S. in 2007 as a refugee herself. Since coming to Tampa Bay, Christy has lead the formation of an ethnic community based organization, The Tampa Bay Burmese Council, and she is now serving as the President of this nonprofit agency that assists newly arriving Burmese refugees. Christy also works full time as a Resettlement Specialist at Catholic Charities and is an active volunteer at First Baptist Church of Temple Terrace and the Tampa Bay Gardens–which is an innovative agricultural program for refugees in Tampa. Christy was the winner of the Hillsborough County Human Rights Award in 2011 for her ongoing advocacy and dedication to refugees in Tampa Bay. Christy is now a U.S. citizen and was recently married.

Pastor Reuben Hrang
City: Tampa
Date of Arrival in the US: May 2011
Since his arrival in Tampa Bay in 2011 from Malaysia, Pastor Reuben has become an integral part of the community helping many Burmese refugees to access needed services and integrate more seamlessly. Pastor Reuben works on behalf of the refugee community at a number of different levels. First, he served as the Secretary of the local Ethnic Community Based Organization, the Tampa Bay Burmese Council. In this role he not only provided leadership for the Council, but also provided direct client services such as transportation and interpretation to clients who call on the ECBO for assistance. In addition, Pastor Reuben recruited a group of 10 Chin families to work at the local Tampa Bay Gardens project, planting and harvesting fruits and vegetables. Since Pastor Reuben got involved, the Chin section of the garden is thriving! Pastor Reuben also works closely with refugee service providers and attends all Refugee Task Force meetings in order to ensure that the Burmese community’s voice is heard. Pastor Reuben was selected to represent the State of Florida at the 2012 Office of Refugee Resettlement National Consultation in Washington, DC.

Desiree Dayhoff
City: Naples
Date of Arrival in the US: June 2006
Desiree came to the U.S. from Cuba in 2006 via the Mexican border. Once she settled in the Naples area, Desiree got a job at the Doubletree Suites by Hilton and worked her way up to holding the position of Executive Housekeeper. In this position Desiree has focused on hiring a staff of mostly Cuban refugees and has launched innovative practices such as holding English classes and Citizenship classes for her housekeeping team which helps them both personally and professionally. Desiree also offers financial literacy workshops and six of the current housekeeping staff are now homeowners. With her consistent team building and pursuit of excellence, Desiree’s housekeeping team of Cuban refugees has won the prestigious Doubletree by Hilton’s “Excellence in Housekeeping” award three years in a row. Desiree is an active member of the Collier Refugee Task Force and was selected to represent the State of Florida at the “First National Refugee Congress” in Washington, DC organized by the UNHCR in 2011. In the past two years, Desiree has become a U.S. citizen herself and gotten married.

Margarito Broche
City: Miami
Date of Arrival in the US: 2011
In 1991, Margarito Broche began to actively denounce the violations of Human Rights in Cuba, which led to his first imprisonment in 1992, when he served a sentence of six months. After leaving the prison, he pursued his activities opposing the regime; he was constantly harassed and, threatened by the police. On 25 December 1997, he established the National Association of Rafters for Peace, Democracy and Freedom (he had tried once to leave Cuba by raft but had been returned), which aimed to end human rights violations, and monitor migratory agreements between Cuba and the United States, 1995 – with returnees Rafters to Cuba.

On March 18, 2003 he was among 75 opponents of President Fidel Castro that were arrested in a crackdown on the opposition that has come to be known as the “Black Spring.” He was imprisoned for “violating the independence, sovereignty and economy” and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. While jailed he developed major health problems and was released and allowed to leave the country. Margarito and his wife Maria Noa, a founding member of the Damas de Blanco [Ladies in White--wives and relatives of the 75 opposition leaders imprisoned in 2003] were admitted to the U.S. as refugees and Margarito received medical treatment.

Margarito and Maria settled in Miami. Margarito continues to bring attention to the plight of fellow prisoners of conscience in Cuba and is also the president of the “Grupo De Los 75 Y Damas De Blanco En El Exilio” [Group of 75 and Ladies in White in Exile]. He is very involved in helping former Cuban political prisoners who have resettled in Miami to navigate the system and get access to benefits and support they need to begin a new life and hopefully integrate in their new community.

Geras Shoukulu
City: Miami
Date of Arrival in the US: 2005
This week we will also hear from a young man who lived through the horror of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but lost his parents. In 2005, he arrived here with two younger brothers, still legally a child himself. After turning 18, he entered the independent living program, and has since completed his GED and obtained multiple vocational training certificates. In just 8 years, this young man has built a career; married and became a parent; and bought a lovely home. On top of all those responsibilities, he was compelled to reunite his family, and in 2011 this young man and his wife became the foster parents to his youngest brother, now 13-year-old. The two have also become a source of support to other refugee children and youth within the Unaccompanied Refugee Program.

Carmen Jaqueline Gimenez
City: Miami
Date of Arrival in the US: November 2008
Carmen was born in Caracas Venezuela. She won a scholarship to study a specialization in International Trade and Custom and created a model of integration, through private agreements, for The Americas. She founded a non-profit in 2004 to promote the Americas Integration model she created. Carmen was also active politically. She wrote opinion articles in newspapers promoting the work of the private sector. She participated in marches and strikes and was persecuted, threatened, and intimidated by government officials for her actions. She moved to Argentina seeking safety and then to the US, where she was granted political asylum.

After arriving in US, Carmen launched a webpage http://www.USA-Refugees.com seeking to create a place to exchange information, communication, education, and culture, but also to share experiences, to become a site of friendship for refugees in the US, and to set an example to the world. She was a member of the Miami-Dade Refugee Advisory Panel and participated in the Miami-Dade Refugee Task Force. She organized the 2012 World Refugee Day event in Miami-Dade County, which was attended by over 150 people.

Daniel Haile
City: Jacksonville
Date of Arrival in the US: September 2011
Daniel is a young man from Ethiopia forced to flee because of mixed Eritrean/Ethiopian heritage. Daniel was quickly noticed as a leader with the ability to rise and lead others and was elected President of a newly formed African Community Based Organization in Jacksonville. Soon after arrival in Jacksonville in September 2011, Daniel met members of a local foundation that saw his potential and agreed to provide a scholarship for his continued college education seeking an engineering degree. The foundation requires recipients to pay it forward and Daniel has already started doing so. He established the Jacksonville African Community Organization, Inc. The group already does volunteer projects and has also begun meeting every newly arrived refugee from Eritrea and Ethiopia within a couple of days after arrival in the US to welcome them and help explain the inner workings of life in the U.S. Daniel is a full time university student, works part time and still makes the time to organize the organizations members doing volunteer activities.

Walfrank Piñeiro
City: Orlando
Date of Arrival in the US: June 2011
Walfrank is 15 years old. He came from Cuba with his parents and two younger siblings on June 3rd 2011 under the Family Reunification Program.

He attended the Martires de Barbados School in Cuba where he completed eighth grade and his team won national championship two years in a row. When he came to Orlando, Orange County Public school system wanted him to stay in eighth grade due to his young age and his English language limitations; however, an exception was made and he was enrolled in ninth grade. With tutorial assistance from Catholic Charities Youth and Family Services (a DCF Refugee Services funded program) he is slowly learning the language and has made Honor Roll each school semester.

Two years after his arrival from Cuba, Walfrank and his family has made great progress in the US. Walfrank was nominated by his teachers for the Wekiva High School Highest Honor” Principal’s Prepare for Greatness Award. This award is given to a student at each grade level who best exemplifies the school’s mission – a student who reaches the highest standards of academic and personal success. In addition, Walfrank will also be awarded the Spirit of Excellence Award by Orange County Public School Multilingual Parent Leadership Council for his achievements.

Walfrank has been a great asset to the Wekiva High School baseball team. He was voted “Pitcher of the Year by the Wekiva High School Baseball team for 2012 season.

Both of his parents, Francisco Piñeiro and Johanna Aparicio are very proud and supportive of their son.

Last year, Walfrank was nominated by Catholic Charities Youth and Family Program and received a “Certificate of Achievement” during the celebration of 2012 World Refugee Day at Orlando City Hall.

Francisco Piñeiro, Walfrank’s father worked as an installer of security systems in Cuba. Three months after arriving in Orlando he got a job as a brick layer but due to the downturn in construction, he was laid off. He has been working at Energy Air as an air ducts installer a bit over one year.

Walfrank’s parents Johanna Aparicio (mother) Francisco Piñeiro (Father) can be reached at 321-201-2091

 

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Two teens. Two worlds apart.

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Post by Terri Durdaller, DCF SunCoast Region Communications Director

Thomas and Terri

Sometimes you meet someone who makes you see your own life through a whole new lens.

I met Thomas while working on a video with DCF’s Refugee Services program and the Pinellas Technical Education Centers. Thomas is a refugee from Eritrea in East Africa, who resettled in Tampa three years ago. He and his family left Eritrea because they were fleeing political prosecution.

During his interview for the video, Thomas gave a powerful definition of what a refugee is. He describes a refugee as someone who loses their identity and culture for the sake of protection.

Hearing him say this made me think of my own identity, who I am and how I grew up. Thomas and I are roughly the same age. He was living in a refugee camp while I was graduating high school in the Midwest. His uncle from Germany would send his family money so they could eat. Mine sent me money for holidays and birthdays that I saved for my prom dress.

At the refugee camp, Thomas and his family were given oil and ground wheat. They had to grind the wheat themselves to make it edible. Their meals were eaten together in a house they built themselves from sticks and grass. My family shopped together every Sunday at the local market. I chatted about the week ahead as my mother placed pork loins and fresh vegetables in our cart. Thomas felt protected in his camp. I felt protected in my small town.

When I turned 18 my grandmother talked to me about the importance of voting, especially for women. I still follow politics and am active in a number of political causes.  Thomas’ grandmother was arrested three times for her political beliefs.

When Thomas is upset he struggles to find the English words to describe his emotions. Every minute he misses his home country. It took him a year to truly adapt to life in the fast-paced United States, but he now calls this home. He plans on becoming a citizen, and one day the kids he hopes to have will call Tampa their hometown.

The refugee video will be unveiled in early 2013. The department will link to it via YouTube. I hope each of you will watch it and learn more about the refugees sitting next to you at church, shopping alongside you in the grocery stores and attending school with your children. They aren’t here for a job. They didn’t come to Florida for a vacation. They left everything they know for protection.

God bless America.

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Day 4: The stories of three refugees

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Guest post by Hiram Ruiz, DCF’s Director of Refugee Services. This is the last of a series of blog posts detailing trip to Asia, where he is spending time with Burmese refugees. Here are personal refugee stories he heard: 

A grandmother separated from children, grandchildren

Mia Yee and Hiram

Mia Yee first fled to Thailand some 30 years ago.  She has spent much of her adult life in Mae La camp. About 10 years ago, Mia Yee’s sister in Burma became ill and Mia Yee and her youngest daughter, Moe Moe Kaing, left the camp and returned to Burma to care for her. Mia Yee’s older daughter, Htee Paw, and her husband remained in the camp.

Mia Yee's oldest daughter, Htee Paw, and her son, Timothy, who is 9 months old.

Mia Yee and her younger daughter were in Burma when the last registration for U.S. resettlement took place in 2005.  Mia Yee’s older daughter registered, but her sister and mother, who were away, missed out.  The older daughter, her husband and young daughter resettled to Jacksonville just under two years ago. I met her and her family in Jacksonville not long before my trip. They are doing well.  The husband is working in a printing shop and Htee Paw is at home taking care of her young kids and improving her English.

Showing photos of Jacksonville to refugees who hope to reunite with relatives there.

When Mia Yee’s sister passed away, she and her youngest daughter returned to Mae La, where they remain.  The younger daughter has married, has a little girl, and a baby on the way. They all live with Mia Yee.  Because Mia Yee and her daughter missed the last resettlement registration, they are not on track to resettle in the U.S.  Her daughter in Jacksonville recently had a second child.  I brought Mia Yee a photo of the grandson she had not yet seen. I was hoping for a big smile, but Mia Yee broke into tears. I should have anticipated it.  The separation from her daughter and grandchildren, and not knowing when or even if she will see them again, is very painful.

 

Hiram with refugees in Mae La camp whose relatives have been resettled in Florida

My meeting with Mia Yee and her family ended on a very positive note, however. I asked the United Nations officers who were with me if there was hope for Mia Yee’s family to reunite in Florida one day.  It turns out there is hope. Apparently the younger daughter’s husband had registered for resettlement in 2005, before the couple married. His registration is valid and thus the whole family can apply for resettlement. Plus, it is likely that registration for U.S. resettlement will take place again later this year, though only for refugees with immediate relatives in the U.S. Since Mia Yee’s daughter is in Florida, they will be eligible through that route also. So in all likelihood, Mia Yee’s family will reunite in Florida within the next couple of years!

Father encourages daughter to go to U.S., pursue her dreams

A 19 year-old young refugee woman I met in Mae La has an even more certain future.  She has already been approved to resettle in Florida, where her uncle and his family already live. But she is sad because her father, with whom she lives in Mae La, will not be going with her.  While he has encouraged her to take up the opportunity of resettlement, he feels that he is too old to make a new start in another country and has decided to remain behind in Mae La.

Timing prohibits man from leaving Mae La

The final refugee whom I met, a man in his 30s who speaks English quite well, has no such positive prospects. He arrived in Mae La after the 2005 registration and though he too has an uncle who has been in Florida for five years, even if there is a new registration later this year he won’t be eligible to register because an uncle is not considered an immediate relative.

Getting a head start on English in case her family can join relatives in Jacksonville

As Mae La enters what may be the final chapter in its 30-year history, the refugee camp’s 47,000 residents, who have been there anywhere from a few years to their entire lives, contemplate the prospects of change in the coming year. For perhaps a few thousand, that change will be a new life in the U.S. or other resettlement country. For most, if recent changes in Burma take hold, repatriation is likely in the coming years. Hopefully they will return to a changed Burma, one where there is peace, greater democracy, and respect for the rights of all its citizens.

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Day 3: Burmese Refugee Leaders Talk about Recent Developments in Burma

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Guest post by Hiram Ruiz, DCF’s Director of Refugee Services. He will be contributing a series of blog posts over the next week detailing his trip to Asia, where he is spending time with refugees.

The Burmese have not had basic human rights for many decades, leading to hundreds of thousands of Burmese fleeing their country. However, in the past few months Burma’s military rulers have taken steps towards democracy and political reform.

They freed revered opposition figure Aung San Suu Kyi from her years-long house arrest, permitted elections that elected her to Parliament, and allowed her to leave the country on a trip that included a stop to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.  Suu Kyi also paid a brief but historic visit to Mae La refugee camp in Thailand.

Hiram showing photos of Burmese refugees in Florida to the Mae La camp Refugee Committee Leader

Burmese refugees in Mae La and other camps are closely following developments in their homeland and wondering what the implications are for them.  Is the change real?  Is the Burmese military really going to permit further democratic reform?  Even if there is real change in Rangoon, the capital, will the Burmese military end its decades-long repression of ethnic minorities?  Or is it all a façade?

The answers to these questions will determine the refugees’ future.  If democracy takes hold in Burma and the government allows ethnic minorities to live freely, the refugees may be able to finally return home.  But what if the apparent change in not genuine?  And what impact will current developments in Burma have on the U.S. and other countries’ plans for future resettlement of Burmese refugees?

Hiram Ruiz meeting with leaders of the Karen Refugee Women's Asociation

Among the refugee leaders I met in Mae La refugee camp and Mae Sot town were the head of the Karen Refugee Committee in Thailand, the head of the Refugee Committee in Mae La camp, and leaders of the Karen Women’s organization.  Their views varied, though all remain wary.

They welcome the recent developments in Burma, but while some think they offer a glimmer of hope, others believe that the Burmese military is unlikely to end its repression in ethnic minority areas.  Many believe, however, that the international community will continue to respond positively to the Burmese government’s moves (U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Burma recently, the first high-level administration official to do so in many years) and that there will start to be pressure for the refugees to be allowed back into their countries.

Burmese refugee students at work in Mae La camp school

With the eventual closure of the camps now on the horizon, some refugees in the camps who had not made up their minds whether to apply for resettlement to the U.S. or other countries are now beginning to decide.  Even the head of the Refugee Committee in Mae La told me he and his family had applied for resettlement to join relatives in North Carolina.

Resettlement is not an option for most, however.  For some time, the U.S. has only offered resettlement to refugees who have been registered in the camps since 2005 and it is likely that future resettlement to the U.S. will be limited to refugees who have immediate family members already in the United States.

Next post:

At Mae La, I met one young woman already accepted for resettlement in Jacksonville, a family of four who have immediate family in Florida and may be eligible for future resettlement, and a man whose uncle lives in Jacksonville but who is unlikely to qualify for resettlement because he arrived in the camps after 2005 and his uncle is not considered an immediate family member. 

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