Abdirizak Mohamud
Ten years ago, I lived as a refugee in the Hagadera refugee camp in Kenya, one of three refugee complexes in the area housing Somali, Ethiopian and Sudanese refugees. I had escaped civil war and political strife in neighboring Somalia. I had been introduced to American leadership in philanthropy and goodwill as a little boy going to grade school in the camp. Through a pen-pal program created by American volunteer agencies, my school received loads of school supplies. We were beside ourselves with joy as we showed off boxes of Crayola crayons, pencil sharpeners, modeling clay and pictures of new friends in America. As I learned English, I identified the words “From the American people” emblazoned under the Stars and Stripes on tins of donated food and other items.
Nine years later, I returned to the camp and visited the same school and offered help, narrating my story as a newly-minted and proud American citizen.
After 15 years in the camp, my family and I were elated to go to the United States after going through a rigorous, two-year vetting process that included health screenings and interviewing with the U.N. refugee agency and a multitude of U.S. agencies including the State Department, Homeland Security, immigration and citizenship services. In these intense interviews, my family and I were asked security questions and details on the circumstances leading up to our refugee status. Our narratives were recorded at every stage, with each family member’s interview cross-referenced against others and follow-up questioning to make sure our reports did not vary in their details.
Often, refugees suffer from brain injuries impacting both long-term and short-term memories as a result of traumatic experiences, including witnessing the murder of family members and close relatives. It was not unusual for families to have discrepancies in their narratives, and as such, their stories would be deemed incoherent and not deserving of admission. Because of the rigorous and lengthy screening and vetting process, many refugees wished for resettlement to countries like Canada, which has a much shorter wait time.
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This is how strict the U.S refugee vetting process can be, contrary to the lax picture of the vetting process that our politicians paint today.
The 1951 Refugee Convention ratified by 145 nations spells out the definition of the term “refugee” and the rights and responsibilities of a refugee. It also calls on countries to cooperate to prevent refugees from being returned to the country where they might face a serious threat to life or freedom. The rights to life and freedom transcends ethnicity, race and culture. The new executive order by President Trump to ban entry into the U.S of citizens from seven Muslim majority nations is uncalled for and is an affront to the American conscience. Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. Introductory U.S. history lessons teach about past divisive policies rooted in demagoguery, hysteria and fear. Many Americans remember when Nazi legislation barred Jews from all public schools and universities in the late 1930s and how the United States ordered the internment of Japanese Americans in 1942. Much the same as the refugees in the mid 1900s, today’s refugees, including Muslim refugees, bear the brunt of terrorism, torture and political violence in their native states. These refugees are mainly women and children.
Somali-born and London-based writer and poet Warsan Shire remarks, “No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark.” Indeed, no human dares the unforgiving desert or the rising tides of the oceans if the beams of opportunity, freedom and peace do not shine on the other side of the border.
Fast forward many years. I now live in Portland and have helped refugees and immigrants from Southeast Asia, South America and Africa settle and find sanctuary in our beautiful city. Their faces register wide grins as I welcome them at the airport and place them into furnished apartments. This is the ultimate American experience and reflects what I see as the American ideals of hospitality, compassion and certainly generosity.
Refugees are revitalizing our cities, adding flavor to our rainbow of ethnicities. They pay taxes, learn the English language and become responsible citizens. In the words of Ronald Reagan, America should be “committed to the world because so much of the world is inside America.” Not doing so fails to live up to the promise of America and our moral leadership in the world.
Abdirizak Mohamud lives in Southeast Portland.
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