This morning I attended a Burmese Language Service with Dr. U Kyaw Than, a renowned Burmese theologian. The service was beautiful and the sermon focused on God's purpose - being present with us in love and peace. Following the service I had a chance to visit with some of the congregational leadership as well as a couple families who have been waiting to hear from the UNHCR about the status of their case. Their stories are heart wrenching - in one case the family has been waiting for four years to hear about their refugee status.
Having worked with refugees in countries of first asylum for several years, I heard the same plaintive request - what about my case? Why is no one able to help? Can you? All too often refugees have many, many questions, for those of us who work with them. Unfortunately, we often have few answers to give. Urban refugees can sometimes have the most questions. Living outside the camps, information can be difficult to come by and what information is gathered can be an obscure mixture of fiction and fact. There are so many dimensions to refugee processing - international laws and treaties as well as local laws governing the management of refugees. When you are counting the number of displaced, either in a camp or in an urban environment, in the 10's of thousands, out of necessity, the individuals become statistics out of necessity. But with each statistic is a human being who is suffering the jolting reality of having been forced to flee their home.
I left the service feeling that there may be some hope for the families. Information is valuable, just knowing what the process is for reviewing a case and where your case may be in the process can give some hope. The pastor will be reaching out to the local UNHCR office to ask them to share information about case processing and how he and his leadership team can begin to offer some answers, and assurances, to members of the congregation.
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