The Decision to Resettle

This year’s “Forced to Flee” tour is dedicated to bringing awareness to refugee issues throughout the world and promoting activism among the Calling All Crows community. The Crows’ Nest blog will feature articles by Trish Becker-Hafnor discussing the complex elements of the refugee experience, from conflicts affecting communities across the globe, to the challenges of living in a foreign country after resettlement. You can read the first installment here.

“I came here lonely,” he said, with a slow nod of the head.

“Do you mean you came here alone?” I ask, “You moved to this refugee camp without any family or friends?”

“Yes, I came here alone.”

The slip of the tongue is rare for Ko Aye,* a handsome 26 year-old with near perfect English (in addition to the five other languages in which he is fluent). Ko Aye is a refugee from Burma, living alone in Umpiem Camp as his family has either resettled or remains in Burma. He works in the camp as a translator for a resettlement organization and dreams of moving to the United States one day to be reunited with his family. He wants to be an engineer.

Ko Aye sits beside me at a dusty teashop in the heart of the refugee camp where I have been living and working for the past year. He patiently answers a barrage of questions about the resettlement process – a subject he knows like the back of his hand. He explains the history of refugees from Burma, and the sad realities that face the vast majority of those hoping to resettle. Because countries like the US only accept a limited numbers of refugees each year, refugee camps throughout the world are filled with people who have nothing to do but wait. Less than 1% of worldwide refugees are resettled to a third country, a result of limited funding coupled with sharply increasing numbers of displaced persons. 

But not every refugee wishes to resettle, and in fact it is a decision that tears families and communities apart. Refugee camps provide a temporary point of refuge for many families who have fled their homes, a place to wait out armed conflict and hope for peace in the near future. The wait is unpredictably long, and the uncertainty can be unbearable. In Umpiem Camp, where Ko Aye lives, refugees have been waiting for peace for over 60 years. Rumors constantly weave throughout the camp, giving families false hopes of democracy and repatriation, and prolonging their wait for a safe return home.  

For some, waiting is not a solution. Instead, they choose to apply for resettlement, a process that can take years. With a resettlement application, people often face stigma from their communities and are labeled as deserters. They place the futures of themselves and their families in the hands of a governing body whose rules and preferences fluctuate with the changing of political alliances. And even if resettlement is approved, families are often separated, lovers torn apart and communities dismantled. The decision to resettle is a challenging one, and this is before considering the struggles that await refugees in a third country.

Ko Aye, like many young refugees, dreams of attending university and building a livelihood for himself and the family he hopes to one day have. He is young, brilliant, educated and ambitious. For him, resettlement is his best option, as it will provide an opportunity for education, prosperity and a new life.  So here he waits – unchallenged and unfulfilled, but with hopes of a future free from violence, fear and being alone.

*Names and other identifying information have been changed to protect the individual’s privacy.