Myanmar Refugees Strain Aid Groups

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The number of Myanmar refugees settling in the U.S. has grown exponentially this year, threatening to overwhelm local aid groups and government services.

The deluge has inundated local health departments that screen the thousands of arrivals for the growing problem of tuberculosis and other ailments. It also has flooded schools that must overcome language barriers, and public and private aid agencies that house, feed and clothe the newcomers.

Resettlement agency Exodus Refugee has doubled its Indianapolis staff to eight people over the past 11 months but still can’t keep up, job specialist Zach Tennant said recently while handing out envelopes with $25 spending money to each adult refugee arriving at Indianapolis International Airport.

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The Rev. Thlaawr Bawihrin of Zophei Christian Church says his Chin congregation—one of four clustered on the south side of Indianapolis—has doubled to more than 200 members in five months.

Since many refugees speak little English and lack driver’s licenses, Bawihrin—who has been in the U.S. since 1996—shuttles them to jobs, doctors’ appointments, welfare offices and other errands.

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Two hours northeast of Indianapolis along Interstate 69, Fort Wayne is home to about 3,000 expatriate Myanmar, one of the largest communities in the U.S. The arrival of 70 refugees in one week, and 559 over the first nine months of this year, prompted the head of the local Catholic Charities agency to turn to Congress for help.

“We are receiving complaints on many levels within the community,” Debbie Schmidt wrote Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., on Sept. 13. “. .&nbsp. Health has become a serious issue in this community because a large percentage of the arriving refugees are testing positive for tuberculosis.”

The refugees are testing positive for latent tuberculosis, not active, meaning they carry the bacteria but don’t have the disease, Schmidt said.

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The State Department admitted 13,896 Myanmar refugees during the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, a more than sevenfold increase from 1,612 in 2006. Nearly 5,000 arrived in September alone, sometimes with as little as 10 days notice.

State Department spokesman Curtis Cooper said Myanmar expatriates resettling in the U.S. spiked this year at the request of the U.N. high commissioner for refugees.

The Department has waived provisions of the Patriot Act that barred 9,300 ethnic Karen from entering the U.S. because of their association with Myanmar rebels. It also lifted material support restrictions for certain ethnic groups such as the Karen and Chin.

Also, this is the first full year for a refugee processing center in Thailand run by the International Rescue Committee under contract with the State Department, said Christine Petrie, the committee’s U.S. resettlement director.

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Besides Indiana, the pressure also is felt in St. Paul, Minn., and Utica, N.Y., both home to large Karen populations.

The Rev. William Englund, pastor of St. Paul’s First Baptist Church, said he has been welcoming six to eight families into his congregation each month. Their welcome baskets used to include rice cookers, but the parish no longer can afford them.

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In Utica, the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees has received 300 people over the past 11 weeks, including 109 one week, before the end of the federal fiscal year brought a respite. Director Peter Vogelaar said the biggest challenge is finding them safe, clean homes and jobs. He’s finding work for 30 to 40 refugees per month.

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