Supporting the Burmese community in Seattle, Washington

After 9/11 the United States admitted far fewer refugees - just 27,000 in fiscal year 2002, down from 85,000 in 1999. Nearly none were from Burma (or, as its military regime now calls it, Myanmar) ... In 2006, the United States admitted 1,323 refugees from Burma; 17 of them were resettled in Washington. Last year 18,139 arrived in the United States and 2,247 in Washington. Today the largest source of refugees entering this country and this state is not Iraq, Afghanistan, or another front-page trouble spot. It's Burma, a land most Americans know nearly nothing about. Read more: http//www.seattlemet.com/issues/archives/articles/refugees-0709/

Recently we were introduced to several leaders of the Burmese community in our area. Through these dedicated individuals, we were able to support many of the newly arrived Burmese refugees.

If you, or someone you know, are interested in becoming a foster parent to one of the refugee youths (teenage youths from Burma, Bhutan, Congo, Somalia, Sudan, and Honduras) who has fled civil unrest or persecution or been a victim of human trafficking, please visit http://www.refugeechildren.net/ to learn more or write to eberg@lcsnw.org .

Photos:

TOP: two Burmese refugee teen girls (from left), Pwint and Simon (right, leaders of the Burmese community in Washington State), visiting Kids Without Borders office/storage.

BOTTOM: new clothes from Kids Without Borders (our Hand Me Up program) came to these new refugees in our community.