wfn.org | FIRST SOMALI BANTU REFUGEE FAMILIES ARRIVE IN U.S.

["Nat'l Council of Churches" <nccc_usa@ncccusa.org>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FIRST SOMALI BANTU REFUGEE FAMILIES ARRIVE IN U.S.
Church World Service To Resettle 900+ In 13 U.S. Cities

DENVER, CO & PHOENIX, AZ - 5/30/03 -- Two of the first families of Somali
Bantu refugees being resettled in the U.S. by global humanitarian agency
Church World Service (CWS) arrived safely last Thursday (5/22) in Denver and
Phoenix.

The families are the first of more than 900 to be resettled by Church World
Service and among the first of 12,000 total the U.S. has committed to bring
into the country over the next two years.

The two families are part of a first wave of 74 refugees who left Nairobi,
Kenya, last week for their respective U.S. cities. The U.S. commitment to
the Somali Bantus plight follows tightened post-9/11 domestic security, in
which U.S. refugee admissions dropped from 85,000 in 1999 to 27,000 for
2002.

The U.S. State Department is working very hard to admit 3,000 Somali Bantu
by September 30 of this year, says CWS Executive Director John L.
McCullough. That means the government will have to admit an additional
9,000 between October and the end of September 2004 to meet the 12,000 goal.

We are totally supporting the U.S. to fulfill that goal,  McCullough adds.

McCullough expresses great enthusiasm for the Bantus resettlement. Church
World Service is honored to be a part of literally helping the better part
of a group or tribe of people step out of generations of slavery, oppression
and discrimination.

The Bantu represent one of the most under-served peoples on earth, he
notes, Theyve been historically denied access to education, land or home
ownership, and acceptance as equals due to their heritage and physical
differences.

McCullough further called for advocacy and continued strong support of the
U.S. government to keep its promises and once again expand its acceptance of
refugees and asylum seekers.

In addition to resettling refugees, CWS administers the offices for refugee
processing programs in Nairobi, Kenya, and Accra, Ghana, through an
agreement with the U.S. Department of State and assisted in pre-screening
and preparing the Bantu refugee candidates prior to their final immigration
processing.

In Phoenix, Craig Thoresen, Director of the CWS affiliate in Phoenix,
Lutheran Social Ministry of the Southwest (LSMS), reflected on seeing his
family of Somali Bantu arrive.

This was a very special moment for me, Thoresen says. I had seen them in
Kakuma. I met the Somali Bantu when I traveled with CWS to Kakuma Camp. That
was about nine months ago.

Between then and now, there have been lots of frustrations and rumors, hard
work and waiting on all sides, Thoresen reflects. Seeing this family
walking up the airport concourse was a sweet completion, a happy
 conclusion.

LSMS facilitated a strong community interfaith welcoming group for the
Phoenix Bantu familys resettlement, including the citys new Somali
Association and the refugees host churches in Phoenix, the Congregational
Church of Tempe and The Islamic Cultural Center and Mosque of Tempe.

Arriving in Denver, one Somali Bantu family of five was greeted by
representatives from Church World Service, CWS partner agency Ecumenical
Refugee Services of Denver and an ERS interpreter, and St. Francis Cabrini
Catholic Church, co-sponsors for the family.

Sharif Amin, a Somali refugee and a caseworker at the Rocky Mountain
Survivors Center and Board of Directors Member of the Denver Somali
Association, also welcomed Denvers Somali Bantu family.

Amin said the Bantu believe theyve been one of the most oppressed groups.
But Amin notes, Were all one in the U.S. I myself belong to a minority
community within the Somali people.

I dont think the clan differences will be repeated here, he noted. The
Somali community has collected clothes, small appliances, and other goods to
help the new family settle in.

Denvers Ecumenical Refugee Services Director Patricia Vorwerk said that not
only is there a strong refugee support network in Colorado now, but in
preparing for the Somali Bantu arrival, CWS and ERS worked very hard to
enjoin the interfaith community in creating a positive, welcoming
environment for the Bantu.

355 Somali Bantu in all are presently slated to resettle in Denver through
CWS and other agencies. To date, Phoenix is scheduled to receive 660.

Although media were dissuaded from camera coverage of the Denver and Phoenix
families arrival, national Public Radio News reporter Jennifer Ludden had
made separate arrangements to record the Denver Bantu familys first
reactions to being in the U.S.

 From the airport, Ludden had asked the father, What will you do in
lightened and he smiled, I know what I can do in America. I know I am not
some point along the highway, the man saw cornfields and a tractor. His face
young now. But I drove a tractor when I was a young man, he said. I can
drive. 

All of the 12,000 Somali Bantu to be resettled lived for about ten years in
Kenyas Dadaab camp near the Somalia border while the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees sought- but failed- to find a home elsewhere in Africa for the
oppressed group.

In August 2002, the Somali Bantu were all transported to Kakuma Camp in
Kenya, where they waited and were processed for resettlement in the U.S.

The Somali Bantu are descendents of people who, in the 1800s, were made
slaves in Mozambique and dispersed. After slavery was abolished, the Bantu
in Somalia remained outcasts, denied political representation and the right
to own land.

 From the Somali civil war in 1991, they fled to Kenya and have lived in
outside a refugee camp.
refugee camps ever since. Many Somali Bantu children have never known life

Now, in Phoenix, one new Bantu refugee family is discovering a new life,
thanks in part to the attention of their co-sponsors in the city, St.
Francis Cabrini Catholic Church.  The churchs head of Missions Jean Firmin
has been coordinating the churchs efforts to receive the family, collecting
furniture and new large appliances for the past six months.

With help from ERS and the churchs volunteers, the family has already begun
those rites of passage of living in America. Going to the doctor. Getting a
social security number. Getting a drivers license. Learning English. Going
to school. Going to mosque. Going to the 7-11. Finding jobs. Finding their
way.

Phoenix CWS affiliate Craig Thoresen reports, On arrival our family was a
little dazzled. But once in their new apartment, Thoresen concludes, they
were smiling and happy, very appreciative and thankful, if somewhat
confused, he added. They looked around at the three bedroom, two bath place
and said incredulously, Is this all ours?

A global humanitarian agency of 36 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican
denominations, Church World Service works with indigenous organizations
supporting sustainable self-help development, meeting emergency needs,
aiding refugees, and advocating to address the root causes of poverty and
powerlessness.

For more information about the Somali Bantu, the Church World Service
Immigration and Refugee Program, or its partner agencies in Denver and
Phoenix, visit: www.churchworldservice.org

Communication Department
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
New York, New York
Phone: 212-870-2227 Fax: 212-870-2030