Wednesday, February 27, 2008
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The first floor auditorium in Campbell Hall was nearly full Monday night. The audience listened to a panel of Ohio State refugee students discuss their experiences."Most of you probably take (water) for granted," said Samatar Alinoor, a junior in biology.
Alinoor described living conditions in one of Kenya's refugee camps. His family fled Somalia to escape civil war. Water, along with food, was rationed with cooperation between the United Nations and non-government organizations every 15 days.
"This was clearly one of the toughest commodities to find in a refugee camp because there are no boreholes," Alinoor said.
Basic services such as education and health care were scarce. One doctor was responsible for 350,000 refugees.
Inna Simakovsky is a Russian immigrant and immigration attorney at the Economic and Community Development Institute. She said most of the refugees she represents are trying to get visas for family members.
"There might be a household of people living together and because some people in that household are over 21 they get screened off from the family," she said.
Another example of family members being screened off the refugee application process, Simakovsky said, includes situations where infants live with extended family members who apply for entry.
"In terms of who can come together, generally only a spouse and...children under the age of 21 may qualify as principle applicants," she said.
Rami Arafah, a senior in social work, said he inherited his refugee status from his Palestinian parents.
"In the eyes of the Israeli government I'm treated as a Palestinian refugee, which basically strips any right that I have to return to my family's home," Arafah said.
Arafah's grandfather moved from the West Bank to West Jerusalem in 1946 and was evicted by Jewish militias two years later. He and his family fled to East Jerusalem, which was controlled by Jordan, but the family scattered during the Six-Day War to escape imprisonment and execution for appearing on a wanted list.
Muhuba Abdullahi, a junior in social work, is another Somali refugee. She said her family was originally displaced in Somalia and later immigrated to Uganda, Canada and finally, Ohio.
"When we came to Toronto, my parents, they had no choice but to apply for the part-time, low-paying jobs," Abdullahi said. "A doctor is not a doctor anywhere in the world. A nurse is not a nurse anywhere in the world."
Abdullahi said the population density created friction between Somalis and Canadians. Columbus gave her family a warmer reception.
"If you build a restaurant, people will come," she said and drew laughter from the audience.
Alinoor, Arafah and Simakovsky said they hope to return to their parents' countries.
"We're waiting, we're waiting and we're waiting for our right to go home, and we've been waiting now for four generations for that to happen," Arafah said.
Lesly Hernandez can be reached at [email protected].
Source: TheLantern, Feb 27, 2008