WASHINGTON—Habtom Haile nervously tugs at the collar of his sweatshirts as he stares off into the distance. The 29-year-old refugee reflects on his lonely journey to the United States from Eritrea, a former colony on the horn of Africa locked in a long-running conflict with neighboring Ethiopia. He left his family behind to escape an economic depression and a stint in the military.
The U.S. wasn’t his dream when he left home – he wanted to go to Canada. And the reality of life in America has been hard to accept. With no ambassador to support them, Eritrean refugees rely on organizations run by other Eritrean immigrants. But all too often, those organizations lack the resources to help as much as they’re needed.
“The way I see myself here and my situation, it’s not better here than it was back home,” he said, translated from his native Tigrinya. “Here, the language barrier that I have and the system is not for me.”
Haile’s story is similar to many others fleeing from Eritrea: an economically depressed country torn apart by human rights abuses committed by an oppressive government. Since 2000, 9,682 Eritreans refugees have settled in the U.S., according to data from the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement.
After years of colonial rule and an almost 30-year war with Ethiopia, Eritrea gained independence in 1991, and in 1993, President Isaias Afewerki and the People’s Liberation Front for Democracy and Justice took control of the new government.
There’s not been a constitution ratified, nor an election held since, and the government is reportedly responsible for arbitrary arrests and detention with torture in order to keep its strong grip over the country, according to the State Department, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations. The Eritrean government has also banned free press from operating within the country, and severely limits the scope of U.N. assessments of the country.
Because of these abuses, Eritrean immigrants are usually granted asylum in the U.S. more easily than other immigrants, said immigration lawyer David Garfield.
“When there is massive mobilization of a population, that is usually a red flag for long standing abuse,” said Garfield.
“These are people that have fled because they have been tortured, or they have been jailed or their family has been killed,” said John Stauffer, president of The American Team for Displaced Eritreans. “This (is the) sort of personal history that the judge has to appreciate and judge on.”
After serving more than five years in the Eritrean Military, Haile fled to Ethiopia in 2008 to avoid further unlimited national service.
He dreamed of a better life as he waited in a refugee camp in Ethiopia for three years, until the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees helped him, along with a group of other refugees, move to America in 2011, despite his request to go to Canada.
And that’s when his new troubles began.
Getting to the United States can be difficult, but settling in is often just as hard. Solomon Seium, manager of the Eritrean Civic and Cultural Center in Washington, came to the U.S. in 1988. He said that newcomers often rely on the Eritrean Orthodox Church for food stamps, pocket money and connections to immigrants who can offer a helping hand. If they have no relatives in the States, the help often stops there.
“There’s big expectations,” he said, citing the influence of American media in Eritrea. “So their expectation is that one day they’ll come here, they will drive a nice car, they will get money fast, but the reality is not that. You have to work, you have to know the culture of America, you have to communicate with people.”
Seium said jobs are hard to come by and most immigrants settle for jobs outside or beneath their experience level.
“We have a lot of kids who come here with a lot of problems because they don’t how to deal with America,” said Seium. “You got to be tough, because if you don’t have anybody to guide you, then you get lost.”
When Haile arrived, he said, the International Rescue Committee–an organization that helps refugees resettle–provided him with housing and a job. Now he is having trouble finding consistent work and lives with one of his friends. He spends most days at the cultural center, located on the outskirts of Chinatown.
Seium said he used to give Haile food, but has stopped because “I didn’t want him to get too comfortable and he needs to go out and find work.”
Haile has found several jobs, but his inability to speak English has made it hard to keep them.
While some Eritreans with college degrees and family or friends in the states have an easier time assimilating and finding steady work, those like Haile who need help find that the organizations dedicated to helping them often are struggling financially themselves, said Seium. He said the cultural center does the best it can to help those immigrants find their way, but it lacks the necessary resources to meet demand.
As a nonprofit organization, Seium said he desperately needs someone who knows how to write grants and tap into other sources of funding. Otherwise, the center relies on revenue from its restaurant, bingo games and fundraisers to subsidize immigrants’ housing, help pay for their medication and provide other financial assistance.
“We raise money to help somebody, but that’s not enough. That’s not going to solve his problem or her problem in the future,” he said.
Eritrean Refugees Resettled to the United States
Sylvan Lane/Medill
Between 2000 and 2012, almost 10,000 Eritrean refugees have been resettled to the United States. This map uses data from the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement to break down where in the country these Eritreans initially came to start their new lives.
Data: http://www.eritreanrefugees.org/files/RefugeesResettled_by_YearbyStateA.pdf
