News Article by THE NATION posted on December 11, 2000 at 13:42:47: EST (-5 GMT)
'The Lost Boys' To Pay for Stay in US
The Nation (Nairobi)
December 10, 2000
Charles Omondi
The young Sudanese refugees to be resettled in the United States
from the
Kakuma Refugee Camp in north-western Kenya will
eventually pay for the
expenses being incurred in the programme.
More than 4,000 Sudanese, who have been living at the camp
established in
1992, will be moved to the US over the next several
months in what has been
billed the largest-ever population transfer of
this kind. A number of them
have already been flown to America.
The majority of the young people came to Kenya via Ethiopia, where
they
had sought refuge soon after the current phase of Sudan's civil
war began in
1983. Only 68 females will benefit from the programme,
a factor which has
made US officials refer to the lot on the move as
"The Lost Boys". It is a
concept borrowed from Scottish author James
M. Barre's story Peter Pan.
In the story, young orphans are assisted to find new homes. The
expenses
incurred in the resettlement programme include thorough
medical screening
using state-of-the-art equipment, air fare, cultural
induction, video shows
and counselling, clothing, food and
accommodation. The Sudanese have to fill
in specially designed
forms, which, among other things, commit them to
repaying the loans.
The International Organisation for Migration is implementing
the
programme, which has been approved by the US government on
the
recommendation of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees.
American charitable organisations, under the auspices of
the Joint Voluntary
Agency (JVA), are assisting the refugees to take
up residence in various
cities. All the immigrants will be entitled to
work and can apply for
citizenship after five years.
The under 17-year-olds may be absorbed in various schools and will
be
entitled to a number of benefits reserved for unaccompanied
minors. The older
ones will be expected to find jobs and fend for
themselves. But as the
unprecedented process continues, voices are
being raised about the
implications of the grand scheme.
Among the questions analysts are raising are: How will the scheme
benefit
Southern Sudan, the refugees' home of origin in the long run?
How
well-prepared are the Sudanese for the American job market?
And how long will
it take them to make enough money to repay the
loans?
Will those who fail to repay the loans be enslaved for the rest of
their
lives? Will the young unsophisticated Sudanese absorb the
cultural
shock that awaits them in the US?
To some, even the weather is an issue. The Sudanese, accustomed
only to
the hot tropical climate, will now have to contend with the US's
diverse
conditions, some of which can be quite extreme.
Another potentially volatile issue is the relations between the
Sudanese
and the African-Americans. The latter are marginalised in
their motherland
and many are wondering how they will come to terms
with their government
committing immense resources to the welfare of
thousands of foreigners.
In South Africa, the hostility shown by underprivileged indigenous
blacks
against fellow Africans from other countries has reached
worrying
proportions. The former, for many years brutally exploited by
the apartheid
system, view the foreigners, pejoratively referred to as
Makwerekwere, as
contributing to their woes. They accuse them of
taking their jobs and women
and even spreading Aids.
At best, the hostility against foreigners from the north has taken
the
form of offending comments on the streets, while at worst it has led
to
deaths.
How about if the conflict in the Sudan were to be solved? Wouldn't
the
"Lost Boys" be an issue between the two nations?
Rwanda and Italy are quarrelling over more than 40 Rwandese
children who
were resettled in Italy in 1994 to save them from a
genocide which claimed
nearly 800,000 lives. Whereas the Rwandese
authorities view their continued
stay in Italy as an affront to their
(Rwandese) dignity, the Italians insist
that it is a humanitarian
obligation. The fact that hordes of children live
in the streets of Kigali,
reckon the Italians, is adequate demonstration of
the African state's
inability to take care of those in exile.
A talk with the Sudanese reveals that whereas those with only
elementary
education are easily excited about the American dream,
those with secondary
education are more cautious and view the move
only as the better of two
evils.
Twenty-year-old Margaret Nyadeng cannot wait for her turn to relocate
to
the US. She has two children from a broken marriage into which her
mother and
an uncle forced her when she was only 16. She hopes to
get a job and support
herself, children and ageing mother.
Nyadeng says her mother is her undertaking as she rued the torture
and
humiliation she underwent as a second wife. Her former husband
had three
wives. While ruling out possibility of ever returning to her
estranged
husband, Nyadeng maintains she will return to Sudan one
day.
Samuel Garang, a Form Three student at Kakuma Secondary School,
has
grudgingly agreed to go to the US. He is not sure of whether he
will be able
to continue with his studies since he is 20.
"I have opted to go out of the conviction that the refugee camp does
not
offer much of a future," he says.
Garang says he did a lot of consultations before accepting to move to
the
US but maintains that if somebody could guarantee him education
beyond Form
Four, even in another African country, he would go there.
"I am worried of what will become of me after my secondary
school
education which is being offered to me for free here."
He says a friend already settled in the US has written to tell him
that
chances of ever landing a white collar job are slim.
Bishop Caesar Mazzolari, of the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek, who
has been
in charge of the spiritual care of the refugees, is opposed to
the idea of
resettlement. The Bishop insists it would be cheaper and
more beneficial if
the Americans initiated projects to encourage the
Sudanese to return home.
"The American society is overwhelming and I dread to think of what
these
young people will go through," he says.
"I could have swam across the ocean to get back home when I first
arrived
in the US at the age of 18," said the 62-year-old Italian. "I could
not speak
a word of English and could not just understand almost
everything that was
going on around me, yet I had all I needed and
much more, as I was
accompanied by my religious order."
Nevertheless, the young Comboni priest went on to live in the US for
26
years. Today, he speaks superb English and says he loves
America, where he
had an opportunity to serve all minority groups as a
priest.
Father Benjamin Madol, who accompanied the 'Lost Boys' to Ethiopia
and
then to Kenya via Sudan, is equally opposed to the resettlement
scheme. He
says the Sudanese will lose their identity and may never
come back to Africa.
The vice-chairman of the Sudanese community at Kakuma, Mr. Ker
Wol Mading,
says the resettlement is a response to "our" cries to the
international
community to do something about the unaccompanied
minors.
Mr. Mading says the Southern Sudanese leaders are concerned about
the
number of refugees who, out of sheer desperation at Kakuma,
were applying for
repatriation to Khartoum. "Once in the government's
hands, they will be used
to fight their brothers in the rebel-held
territory," he says.
He is, however, apprehensive about what the future has in store for
the
Sudanese. "There is no guarantee that the rights of our people will
be
protected but there is little we can do about our situation," he says.
Several associations have been formed by the Sudanese in the US to
try to
protect their rights and safeguard their identity.
As part of their cultural orientation, the prospective immigrants
are
given a book titled, Welcome to the United States: A Guide
for
Refugees. This is tailored to help them develop realistic
expectations
about employment, education, health and other aspects of life in
the
US.
The book, however, acknowledges that "no orientation guide can
possibly
tell you everything you need to know, since resettlement is a
long,
complicated process that is unique for every individual".
While pointing out that neither the government nor the
resettlement
agencies can guarantee the refugees jobs, the guide points out
that
over a million refugees have managed to start their lives all over
again
in the US with a reasonable degree of success.
The booklet explains that the US offers the refugees a chance to
rebuild
one's life. "Starting all over may not be easy, but it can be
done. Over a
million refugees have come before you and most have
done well. You can
succeed also."
Dr Igor Kazanets, leader of the 19-member medical team screening
the
candidates, is equally optimistic about their resettlement in the US.
"They
are honest and good people and the American society will be
glad to receive
them," says the Russian doctor.
Whether the unprecedented move will bear fruit and save the
Sudanese
further trauma, only time will tell.
*Names of the prospective immigrants have been altered to protect
them.
*The writer is the editor of Sudan Catholic Information Office.