ProgressiveIslam.info - refugees

Refugee crisis unprecedented in modern times unfolding in Pakistan

Salaam — Sun, 10 May 2009 00:57:31 GMT

A young boy cries as he waits for his father, in a truck at a refugee camp in Mardan.

ABC News tonight reported that the Pakistani military's assault on the Taliban has engendered the largest refugee crisis in South Asia since the partition of British India.

Al Jazeera's correspondent said:

...there is "no contemporary precedent" for such a large number of people moving at one time.
"This is a huge humanitarian crisis; the largest number of internally displaced people in the world, and in the smallest possible time.
"Even in Darfur it took a considerable amount of time for the [number of internally displaced people] to swell up," he said.

Hundreds of Muslim refugees feared dead after Thailand cuts them adrift in international waters

Salaam — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 13:26:02 GMT

BANGKOK, THAILAND - Hundreds of Muslim refugees from Burma (Myanmar) are feared missing or dead after Thai troops forced them onto boats without engines and cut them adrift in international waters, according to human rights activists and authorities in India who rescued survivors. The revelations have shone a spotlight on the Thai military's expulsion policy toward Muslims it sees as a security threat.

Nearly 1,000 refugees were detained on a remote island in December before being towed out to sea in two batches and abandoned with little food or water, according to a tally by a migrant-rights group based on survivors' accounts and media reports. The detainees, mostly members of Burma's oppressed Rohingya minority, then drifted for weeks. One group was later rescued by Indonesia's Navy, and two others made landfall in India's Andaman Islands.

Photos of refugees on a Thai island show rows of bedraggled men stripped to the waist as soldiers stand guard. In a separate incident, foreign tourists snapped pictures of detainees trussed on a beach. Thailand's Andaman coastline, where the abuses took place, is a popular vacation spot.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has launched an investigation. Military officials have denied any ill treatment of refugees, while offering conflicting accounts of how they ended up lost at sea. The military has accused the Rohingya, who often travel via Thailand to Malaysia to work or seek asylum, of assisting a Muslim-led insurgency in southern Thailand.

Story here.

Sponsoring an Iraqi refugee, part 2

Salaam — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:38:33 GMT

My previous post about this was here.

On Monday this week, I sat down and met the family I was assigned to sponsor, a husband, 34, and wife, 30, and their 2 daughters, aged 4 years and 10 months. (All names will be changes to protect privacy) The husband, Ali, speaks excellent English as he was an English instructor before the war. During the war he worked as a translator for the US Army and Airforce for three years. In 2006, while employed by a contractor, his SUV was struck by an IED. His legs were sprayed with shrapnel, and a bomb fragment struck a magazine clip in a pouch on his vest, causing the rounds to go off and doing extensive damage to his abdomen. He walks with a cane and hasn't worked in two years.

Ali's wife is Sana. I know very little about her as she speaks no English. She is a proper hijabi, covering her hair completely. The four-year-old daughter, Najla, is wide-eyed and very observant. She speaks no English and has a shy, mischevious glancing-eyed way of smiling. When I try to interact with her, she looks at me very intently, as though if she studies me hard enough she will figure out what I am trying to say. She looks small for her age, and is still in diapers, which is late for her age. This may be a sign of trauma. When my daughter was 4 years old, we moved to a new apartment and she reverted, temporarily losing all of her potty training. We had to put her back in diapers for awhile. Their isn't much to say about the infant daughter Nawal, other than to say she seems like a healthy baby.

The social service agency that brought them here attempted to find an apartment for them on the first floor, due to Ali's handicap. the only first-floor apartment they could find was inundated with toxic mold that made the two children sick, so it was rejected and they eventually wound up in a second floor apartment in a building with no elevator.

They have little furniture and the agency isn't planning on giving them much more since it is expected that they will move again soon when I can help them locate a better apartment on the ground level. for that reason, the agency is also advising against enrolling Najla in school since they will likely move to a different town. So their status is unsettled.

We spent the first day recovering their luggage from Virgin Atlantic cargo. Because the agency had no one to drive them to customs and then to pick up the luggage, it had sat for awhile and accumulated storage charges amounting to over a hundred dollars, which I paid. Ali said one of the two bags was entirely blankets, which he said they had been told they should bring because it is really cold here in this area. This errand took something like four hours.

I was going to drop him off at home, but he showed me a list of social service agencies that a medical social worker had given him with places marked that would be most likely to be helpful with food and childcare supplies. I immediately called one of them to check if we needed to make an appointment to come in, and it turned out that not only could we come in right now, but they had an Arabic speaker on staff. Quickly, we drove over and got there right before closing time. Ali received food and baby supplies. He rejected the meat products that were offered, claiming he has an allergy, but in fact he won't eat any meat that isn't halal. he needed diapers for both kids, and didn't know what size they wore, but said he could pick out their size just by looking at them. That implied to me that this is a man who knows his way around his kids' diapers, willing to share childcare duties with his wife.

The Arabic speaker turned out to be a Lebanese Catholic religious worker here on a religious worker visa. So far, all of the assistance Ali has received has been from Christian agencies. It's Lutheran this and Catholic that, the priest this and the deacon that. Inshallah, I hope to ask at the mosque soon what programs are available for poor Muslims. However, the local mosque is Sunni and Ali is Shiite. I don't know if this will make a difference. I hope not.

During the day we strategized about what were the most important goals for him to become fully functioning. He would like to be able to drive. America is automobile-oriented, and without a car they are basically trapped. He had a driver's license in Iraq, which will help to keep his insurance down. His wife needs child care so she can go to school to learn English. I am going to attempt to discover if he and his wife are eligible for a child care voucher, and more importantly, to locate an agency who has one unassigned that it can give to Ali and Sana. Waiting lists in my state for such vouchers is something like two years, unless you can get an agency to pull some strings and give you one now. We will have to "work the system." Unfortunately, most state assistance (like child care vouchers) is reserved for citizens only, but I figure we should ask.

Tomorrow, Inshallah, I will be bringing them to my business, which includes an outdoor program with lots of hiking areas open to the public. Ali with his injuries won't be able to utilize them, but Sana and Najla will. I have an old REI baby jog stroller from when my daughter was an infant. It was expensive, $300, and I could never bear to throw it out. But now I can give it to them, inshallah. I also have a state-of-the-art, yuppie backpack baby carrier still kicking around, which I intend to give to them tomorrow too, along with some warm jackets.

Floodgates open: New wave of Iraqi refugees entering US, but govt discriminates against Muslims

Salaam — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:36:51 GMT

Update: Good news! It turns out that among the Muslims, the social service agency is settling the Shia mostly in the Springfield area, and the Sunni mostly in my area (I'm Sunni, but it wouldn't really matter to me either way.). I go in on Friday to meet with the coordinator and some of the case managers. They said that they also need help with transportation, which I am happy to provide.

The coordinator told me to ignore the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim comments on the story. She also said that they were receiving some "crackpot" calls at the office against Muslims.

Original: Salaam writes: Imagine my excitement when I saw this newspaper article in the Telegram and Gazette (excerpted below) reporting that a large group of Iraqi refugees was coming to a city near me. It would be an opportunity to help some of those millions of formerly middle-class Iraqi Muslims who have had their lives torn up by the unjust war.

Imagine my anger then when I read the article and found that the great majority of those coming were Christians, who make up less than three percent of the Iraqi population. It's not that I don't want to help Christians, it's just that the US government is so clearly discriminating against Muslims. Very arbitrary and unjust.

I've placed a call to Lutheran Social Services of New England. When I find out more about helping Muslim refugees I will post it here.

A growing community of Iraqi refugees has quietly been taking root in the city, and the local charity responsible for resettling them here is bracing for another wave this week.

More than 30 Iraqi refugees were expected to arrive in the city last week and this week, adding to a local community of about 100 immigrants from the war-ravaged nation, many from an oppressed Christian minority that fled to Syria and Jordan, said Jozefina Lantz of Lutheran Social Services of New England.

"We are expecting to see close to 200 in the coming year," Ms. Lantz said.

The agency also has been helping to resettle refugees from Bhutan, a south Asian nation bordering India and China at the foot of the Himalayas.

Lutheran Social Services is one of 10 private, nonprofit charities across the country contracted by the U.S. State Department to get arriving refugees set up in this country.

The local office of Lutheran Social Services issued an urgent appeal last week seeking help from landlords in the city, who typically require the first and last month's rent up front, as well as a security deposit equal to a month's rent. That can add up to $1,800 or more.
....

Although some of the Iraqi arrivals here are Shia and Sunni Muslims, many also are part of an ancient Christian sect in Iraq.

"They are one of the oldest Christian religions. They have been absolutely decimated in Iraq and are still under threat by the majority Muslim populations in Syria and Jordan and some other places," Ms. Lantz said. "We have established quite a nice little community here that is growing."
....

Part of the reason Lutheran Social Services is scrambling to find homes for the tide of arriving refugees now is because some sort of backlog has suddenly worked its way through the U.S. State Department refugee system. The agency saw few new arrivals through last fall, the spring and most of the summer, and then the volume picked up suddenly this month, Ms. Lantz said.

Story here.

America promises 'help' in dealing with developing massive refugee crisis

Salaam — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:54:02 GMT

The US says it is ready to help Pakistan look after huge numbers of people displaced in military operations against militants in the northwest.

Pakistan says more than 250,000 people have fled fighting in Bajaur, a suspected al-Qaeda sanctuary on the country's border with Afghanistan.

Hundreds of people, many of them civilians, have been killed in fighting that erupted two weeks ago.

The government wants help to provide food and shelter to displaced people.

Relief
"We stand ready to offer humanitarian assistance to the government of Pakistan, if requested, in regards to the situation in the tribal areas," US Embassy spokesman in Islamabad, Lou Fintor, told the Associated Press news agency.

When contacted by BBC News website, Mr Fintor did not comment on whether the US had assessed the requirements of displaced persons, or whether the offer had been officially conveyed to the Pakistani government.

Story here.

Iraqi women refugees struggle to eek out existence in Syria

Salaam — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:13:22 GMT

Salaam writes: I've previously posted about the gender-specific struggles of Iraqi women war victims here.

From Women's enews:
Suburbs of Damascus offer a place to explore how Iraqi female refugees in Syria are managing to feed their children. Women whose husbands are dead, missing or disabled describe turning to low-income jobs, international aid and sex work.

In a series of interviews with Iraqi refugees in Jaramana, a predominantly Sunni and Christian suburb of Damascus, and Sayyida Zaynab, a primarily Shiite suburb, Women's eNews spoke with women barely eking out a living from low-income jobs, international aid and sex work. Women such as Mohamed Ali, whose husbands are dead, missing or disabled, were hit the hardest.

Over 2 million Iraqi refugees are estimated to live in Iraq's neighboring countries, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. At least half now live in Syria.

Story here.

h/t Muslimah Media Watch

Thousands flee Pakistan tribal belt

Salaam — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:30:34 GMT

Around 135,000 residents have fled a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan to escape ongoing clashes between troops and pro-Taliban fighters, officials said.

Half of the population of some villages in the Bajaur tribal district had reportedly moved on Thursday.

There have also been reports that fighters were stopping people from leaving some areas.

"We have around 135,000 people who have left their homes there," said Habibullah Khan, the additional chief secretary for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Rising death toll

"We have directed officials in adjoining districts to provide shelter, food and health care to the migrating families. We are setting up more camps to help these people just like refugees."

More than 460 suspected fighters and 22 army troops, have died since Pakistani forces started military operations in Bajaur a week ago, officials say.

Abdul Rehman Malik, the head of Pakistan's interior ministry, said intelligence sources claim that about 3,000 fighters remain in the northwestern region of Bajaur. He also said they included Pakistanis, Afghans and Central Asians.

Malik also vowed to "wipe out" the fighters.

Witnesses said that thousands of families had arrived in Shabqadar, a small town adjoining the tribal belt. Local residents and welfare groups were raising funds and cooking food for them, they said.

Local residents in the Mammoond area of Bajaur have said that pro-Taliban fighters had banned people from migrating, saying that if they left the area it would be a sign of defeat.

Story here.

US veterans return to Middle East to help Iraqi refugees

Salaam — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:02:21 GMT

Karen Zeitvogel writes:

Amman, August 5, 2008 -- The journey to Jordan is long and arduous enough when you set out from the United States: traveling robs you of an entire day, and you forgo the creature comforts of life during 12 hours spent on a plane.

But it would be exponentially longer and infinitely more perilous if you were to set out to cover the much shorter distance from neighboring Iraq, fleeing a devastating war and leaving behind a lifetime that has been stolen from you by violence.

I'm on the first day of a rapid-fire visit to Jordan, the kingdom in the Middle East which has provided a safe haven for an estimated 750,000 refugees from Iraq who have traveled the shorter but more dangerous route to get here.

I'm traveling with a small delegation from the newly founded Iraq Veterans' Refugee Aid Association (IVRAA) -- co-founders of the organization, Luis Montalvan, a former US Army captain, and former US Marine captain Tyler Boudreau, plus photographer Paul Park -- on a mission to try to assess the situation faced by Iraqi refugees, and the burden that hosting those refugees has placed on the Hashemite kingdom.

We also hope to work out what, if anything, we can do to help provide relief to either or both.

That may seem a tall order for three or four people, but in the first 12 hours of the trip we've achieved far more than any of us would probably have dared to imagine six weeks ago when IVRAA germinated.

Story here.