Never Settled

Refugees who migrate out of a war-crippled Sudan which they call home are never settled. It is common assumption that their problems end once they are given aid and migrate to new countries. Their problems are just beginning.

By Pranav Gurusankar

It is a quiet and hazy Friday morning in downtown Manchester, New Hampshire. Michael David sits on a low stool at the dining table as he anxiously sips his tea and eats his bread. His roommate, also a Sudanese, is still snoring in the bedroom. Moments later, he finishes his breakfast and changes to go to work. His single-bedroom apartment is not big, not larger than 300 square feet, with bare walls and basic furniture. Dressed in a plain purple t-shirt, brown pants and a donated pair of trainers, he hastily makes his way to the nearby packaging plant where he works for a meagre income.

As he approaches a pedestrian crossing, he stops next to a white-skinned woman, possibly American. She gives him an apprehensive glance and slowly edges away. Although this is normal for Michael, having lived in the U.S. for three years after migrating from Sudan, he still cannot accept that he is different; that he is not part of the community. As he continues to walk, he ruminates on his encounter. A single question comes to his mind: “Why can’t I fit in?”

Refugees who migrate out of South Sudan are never settled. It is common assumption that their problems end once they are given aid and are not further exposed to the brutal violence that goes on in the war-crippled country which they call home. Their problems are just beginning.

When North Sudan and South Sudan became one in 1956, their country was rocked by war and savage violence. There was constant dispute between the two nations, both with populations of different ethnicities, and this ultimately resulted in a bloody civil war, which killed 1.2 million people and left approximately 5.5 million as homeless refugees, a large portion of which still remain in Sudan today (1). Every year hundreds and thousands of refugees migrate from Sudan to other countries, mostly in the Gulf, but also as far as the Americas. Yet even after being housed in a refugee camp and given shelter, rations, more problems arise for the refugees (2). It seems that no matter where these people live or how successful they are, they are entwined in a seemingly never-ending struggle for a ‘normal’ life.

As Michael walks toward the packaging plant, he realizes that he is early and stops by a roadside cafe, where he sits and orders a sandwich. He realizes that he hasn’t had a filling breakfast, but it was all he could afford to eat, while his roommate took the remainder of the food. While he waits for his meal, Michael’s thoughts wander once again, this time to the subject of freedom. This ultimately brings his thoughts to his life as a slave. Sweat beads his forehead.

His story began in 1989, when the war had broken out and Islamic militias, known as the Murahaleen, raided his village in South Sudan and killed his father, uncle and aunts in cold blood, deeming them as ‘rebel sympathisers’ (3). The next day, the Murahaleen returned to his village and captured Michael, his mother and his brother at gunpoint. They were beaten and taken North, where they were separated and sold to a slave market.

An Arab Muslim from the North ‘bought’ Michael and took him to his home, where was regularly beaten as he tended the livestock, cleaned the house and watched his ‘owner’’s children. He heard death threats every day from the man and was given rotten food to eat while he slept outside, beside the livestock. “He assured me that I was a slave and that he could kill me at any time; as he wished” (4) Michael says.

Most boys from Southern Sudan who survived the raids were left without family, as most adults in the villages were killed or fled. The women that weren’t dead were abducted and taken to the North, where they were sold as slaves (5). Many boys from each village, being the fastest runners and the least important target of the Murahaleen, would flee into the jungles and join groups of hundreds of other boys, known as the Lost Boys, on walks to refugee camps. However, some children too were abducted by the Murahaleen and sold as slaves to Arab Muslims, mostly merchants, in North Sudan. The money was paid to the Murahaleen and the children would be subjected to forced labor at an Arab household, where even the children of the household were allowed to fiercely beat them. Such slaves were given many jobs around the household, such as looking after the children of the ‘owner’, cleaning the house, tending to crops and livestock and taking out trash (6). In return, the slaves were given rotten or leftover food, which gave them painful infections. They were also left to sleep next to the livestock in a stable. The slave trade was one of the fiercest and harshest realities of the Sudan genocide.

By now it is mid-morning, and Michael gets up from his table, pays his bill and thanks the waitress as he walks out of the cafe and toward the plant. His sandwich is half-eaten. For some time Michael’s walk is jumpy, as though something is bothering him, but the feeling slowly fades. He glances up to the church clock on the opposite street and realizes his shift begins in half an hour. Michael speeds up his walk and hurriedly makes his way toward the packaging plant.

Three years ago, Michael arrived in America penniless and in wonder of his surroundings. Before boarding the flight from Cairo, Michael had no clue of what the world outside Africa would hold for him. He had not seen, much less talked to a person who was not Sudanese. As he entered his new apartment, he could only stand in awe at his new, ‘posh’ home. Six months after arriving in the U.S., the Lutheran Refugee Services found Michael a job in a packaging plant and stopped his full sponsorship soon after. Most refugees in America are initially sponsored for six to eight months after their arrival by non-profit or world-aid groups (7), until they find jobs and have settled in. Most Sudanese refugees cannot afford to pay rent for a house for themselves, so it is common to find that they share their homes with one or more people. The jobs that the refugees find in America usually pay little- barely enough for them to survive on- due to their lack of qualifications.

Refugees from Sudan are regularly approved for resettlement in other countries as citizens. Usually these refugees are sent for resettlement from refugee camps, however there are odd cases where a refugee escapes into a country, directly meets an NGO and is sent for resettlement after narrating his life story (8). Often, the refugee camps that send people for resettlement are outside of Sudan, and refugees are sent to various countries across the globe. However, most of these countries lie in the Gulf, in Europe, in Oceania and in North America; most Lost Boys are sent to the United States (9). The refugees usually have little knowledge the world outside of Sudan and their refugee camps. When they arrive in developed, first-world countries such as the U.S., they are overwhelmed by the emotions that they experience- it normally takes the Boys over half-a-year to familiarize themselves with their surroundings. Another problem is their education. Because most, if not all Lost Boys haven’t had a proper education other than the makeshift schools in some refugee camps, they are only able to find jobs where the salary is modest and just enough to get by. Most boys dream of a successful life and try to live their dreams by applying for scholarships to schools and universities.

After a short walk, Michael arrives at the packaging plant in downtown Manchester. It is a large plant, with four blocks, each as large as two aircraft hangars. The walls are furnished in pale grey color and white smoke comes out from large chimney stacks atop the buildings. Strangely, the workers’ entry queue into the plant is long. Michael has never felt comfortable around so many people. As he approaches the security check, he notices that the officer on duty is new. “Are you a refugee?” is the first thing the officer asks him. “Did you come from Africa recently?”. Michael is unsurprised by the question. It seems that no matter where Michael lives, he will never belong.

1. "Refugees of Sudan." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Apr. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugees_of_Sudan>.

2. "Sudanese Refugee Camp Horrific, Says MSF." BBC News. BBC, 07 June 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18739030>.

3. "Michael - USA for UNHCR." Michael - USA for UNHCR. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <http://www.unrefugees.org/site/c.lfIQKSOwFqG/b.4803771/k.C5AB/Michael.htm>.

4. "Michael - USA for UNHCR." Michael - USA for UNHCR. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <http://www.unrefugees.org/site/c.lfIQKSOwFqG/b.4803771/k.C5AB/Michael.htm>.

5. "Refugee Background - Sudan." Refugee Background - Sudan. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2013. <http://worldrelief.org/page.aspx?pid=1163>.

6. "Refugees of Sudan." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Apr. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugees_of_Sudan>.

7. Eggers, Dave. What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng : A Novel. San Francisco: McSweeney's, 2006. Print.

8. "David from Sudan." David from Sudan. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <http://www.ras.unimelb.edu.au/Refugees_Australian_Stories/David/index.html>.

9. "Struggling to Bring Orphaned Family to Canada." CBC Radio. CBC, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2013. <http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Local+Shows/Ontario/ID/2340945998/>.