Somalian Refugees Helped by the IRC
The following stories have been republished with the permission of the International Rescue Committee
Unfaltering Love for her Husband
Segal was only 8 years old when her family (her mother, two sisters and a brother) left Somalia and fled to Kenya after civil war broke out in Somalia. Segal and her family found refuge in refugee camp Hagadeere Refugee Camp in Kenya, where they stayed for nine years from 1991 to 2000. While they were in the camp, her mother contracted several diseases and she died in 1998. After Segal and her family were registered as refugees with the UNHCR, her older sister talked to UNHCR officials to convince them to resettle the family in the United States. The family was eventually selected and approved for resettlement in the U.S. in August 1999.
Segal arrived in Atlanta, GA on April 18, 2000. After her arrival, she began attending English as a Second Language (ESL) classes offered at the International Rescue Committee Atlanta Office, and she still comes to class regularly. In August 2000 she began working at a Hilton hotel where she is still employed. She also started sending her husband money and she calls him every weekend. Her husband tells her that as a Somali refugee in Nairobi, life is very difficult and often dangerous.
In July 2001, IRC helped Segal to prepare the necessary documentation (a Refugee Relative Petition) so that she could be reunited with her husband. Her husband had his petition approved in October 2001 and he is scheduled for an INS interview in Nairobi on May 21, 2002. She is eager for him to come to the U.S. so that he can be safe and happy.
IRC is helping Segal with advocacy and support while she waits to be reunited with her husband. Segal says that, I want him to come because he is my husband and I cannot live without him. I am young, I have a lot of dreams and there are many things that I want to learn. However, I cannot focus because every weekend I talk to my husband and he tells me how much he is suffering. If he was here, we could help each other.
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Abdi Resettles in America
The following story has been republished with the permission of the International Rescue Committee
The IRC has been resettling Somali refugees for a number of years. Civil war and factional fighting have persisted in much of Somalia since 1988, causing it to produce one of Africa’s largest refugee populations. Somalia has been without an effective central government since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. Fighting between rival warlords and an inability to deal with famine and disease has led to the deaths of up to a million people.
Abdi Salah, a 25 year old Somali refugee who was resettled by IRC Atlanta, arrived here alone, without parents or other relatives. Before arriving in Atlanta, he spent 15 years in Kenya in various refugee camps. When civil war broke out in Somalia in 1990, Abdi was only 10 years old. Many people started to flee to Kenya, and among them was little Abdi with his parents and uncles. That was the last time he saw his parents: they were separated when everybody started fleeing the country and the family lost contact with each other.
When Abdi arrived in Kenya, he was placed in the Liboi Refugee Camp, which was only 7 miles away from Kenya-Somali border. He stayed there until 1994 when the camp was closed. At that time many people faced the dilemma of deciding whether to return to Somalia or continue staying in Kenya as refugees. Some decided to return to Somalia, though the civil war was still going on. Among those people were Abdi’s uncles. Others decided to stay in Kenya and were placed in another refugee camp – Dadaab. That is where Abdi spent the rest of his time before he came to Atlanta.
The conditions in the camp were very hard, especially for Abdi. He contracted polio and since then, has been partially paralyzed in his right leg. When there was a food crisis in the camp, he did not have any relatives to take care of him. Many adults went to the forest to gather wood that they could sell to get money to buy food for their families. Abdi was unable to do this. “It was getting worse and worse every year. There was constant food shortage. It was not always like that in Kenyan refugee camps, but now it is much worse,” he says.
Though life in the refugee camp was very hard, the refugees had some access to education and healthcare. Abdi started school, but was only able to complete primary school. In 1999, he learned that he had an opportunity to apply to be resettled in the United States. In 2000, he was interviewed by the staff from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and was accepted to the U.S. resettlement program.
Having finished all his preparations, he was scheduled to leave for the U.S. in September 2001. Due to a corruption scandal that occurred in the UNHCR Nairobi office, all refugee cases were canceled and he was unable to travel. This situation affected about 3,000 refugees who were supposed to leave for the U.S.
Abdi had to start his process again and wait until his case was reviewed. Then, the world was shaken by the September 11 tragedy. No refugee cases were processed until 2003 and Abdi had to restart his resettlement process in 2004. On February 9th, 2005, Abdi finally arrived in Atlanta.
Two months after he arrived, IRC’s Employment staff enrolled him in the Goodwill Industries’ Office TECH Program. Abdi was one of the few clients who qualified to learn administrative skills through the program, since he speaks good English and has basic computer skills. Also, as his job developer, Zeinab Affrah, points out, “Abdi is very willing to become self sufficient as soon as possible.”
Ms. Affrah also adds that Abdi, “would like to learn more to develop his skills. He is friendly and open minded. He learns fast and is willing to try new ideas and skills.”
This program has taught Abdi filing, customer service, typing, proofreading, public speaking and computer software skills. Abdi completed the program on July 15th, 2005. According to his TECH instructor, Diane Rowe, "Abdi earned this certificate because he completed all his assignments and scored on all tests a minimum score of 80 and above. Abdi had excellent attendance and was a eager learner.” Now, the program staff will assist him in finding employment.
Abdi is very thankful to the IRC staff and volunteers for their help and for the chance to start a new life in the U.S. He is very excited about his future life in Atlanta. He says, “I hope to make good achievements, study well and find a good job that will help me to become independent.”