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| African Refugees and Immigrants in The Washington Metropolitan Area | ||
America has been a beacon of hope for people around the world
and in particular to Africans, who are seeking freedom, justice
and opportunities in the 21st Century. Many of the African refugees and immigrants
escaped ethnic cleansing, religious intolerance, suppression of
political opinions and poverty. The poem by the nineteenth century
poet Emma Lazarus continues to reverberate in the minds of African
refugees.
Give me your tired, your poor According to the Brookings Institution Study, "The World in a Zip Code" findings "... the greater Washington area attracts a significant number of African immigrants, which is another distinguishing feature of the area's immigrant profile. African immigrants account for 16.2 percent of the recent arrivals in the Washington region, whereas they comprise only 3.6 percent of all new arrivals to the United States. Indeed, the Washington area attracts the largest proportional flow of Africans of any major metropolitan area in the United States." We don't have an official statistics that reflects the exact number of the African immigrants in the Washington Metropolitan area. However, the number of Africans living in Washington Metropolitan by community estimate is around 400, 000. The region claims the largest Ethiopian community outside Africa. According to Local 27, 90% of the Parking lot attendants are Ethiopians (1,500), and there are many African street vendor as well as taxi drivers in the community. Over one thousand African children attend at the Public and private School system. Over 7 Ethiopian Churches serve every week over 12,000 Ethiopians, and there are four African community-based organizations in the District. There are five mosques serving the African immigrants in the Washington Metro area. The African businesses expand from Adams Morgan to 7th and U Street. The small business owners are the economic engine in the community by creating jobs and paying taxes.We have African doctors, professors, lawyers, and professionals play a major role in the higher learning institutions, hospitals, government agencies, embassies and international organizations. After September 11, the United States has changed-and so the situation of immigrants. There is a dramatic increase in discrimination against African immigrants from verbal abuse to firing them from their jobs. The African immigrants were targeted in great numbers at the National, Dulles and Baltimore Airports. Despite the Washington Metropolitan relative affluence, African immigrants are facing increased discrimination and shrinking economic opportunities. Recently, the following are a few examples that affected the community.
The justice they left behind in their country is a justice of vigilantism and dictatorship. Some of these workers were suffered unbearable tortures and they were persecuted in their country because of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. They fled dictatorship for democracy, they left behind oppression for freedom, and they left hate for love. What they should expect from our law enforcement officers is not intimidation but respect and protection. African immigrants are proud of their culture and they do not want to be humiliated. Humiliation creates revenge and revenge leads to crime. A young African immigrant, Peter A. Njang, was tragically killed by Montgomery County police officer on August 12, 2004 in Silver Spring, MD. He came to this country eight months ago to fulfill his American dream of becoming a medical doctor to heal the pains and wounds of the humanity. We lost him at a young age and we will continue to carry his dreams of healing the community by dialogue on how to avoid future violence. The community remembers what had happened to three Ethiopian immigrants on November 12, 1988. The skinheads from the Portland Oregon group, attacked three Ethiopian immigrants with a baseball bat and steel-toed boots. One of the immigrants - Mulugeta Seraw - was killed. Little political voice they have, African immigrants and their families have decreased life possibilities and economic opportunities. They have very limited life options due to lack of access to health care, higher education, political participation, and economic opportunities. African immigrants are facing broader challenges in 21st Century America. The abuse, discrimination and fear they left behind is following them to the country they called their second home. According to one of the Sudanese "lost boys" after September 11, he said: "They are following us and we do not know where to hide." For the African immigrants the challenges of understanding the complex American system will be a daunting task. However, we are here to stay to build and protect the country. The African Resource Center calls upon you to support the hardworking honest immigrants in the Washington Metropolitan area and in the United States of America. |
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