Minnesota's Karen refugees join march on Washington to keep pressure on Myanmar

Source: star tribune



In Rohingya crisis, other refugees see a chance to highlight plight of Myanmar's minorities.

By Mila Koumpilova Star Tribune
November 6, 2017 — 3:14pm



WASHINGTON — Diana Loo joined hundreds of Minnesota’s Karen residents who descended on the U.S. Capitol Monday, urging a tougher stance toward their home country of Myanmar as a new refugee crisis unfolds there.

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Karen refugees from around the country rallied in front of the Capitol to speak out against human rights abuses in Myanmar. Many like Loo dressed in traditional, brightly colored clothes as they waved flags and signs such as “Stop the Burmese army from killing all ethnic nationalities in the Burmese region.” Organizers said Capitol Police estimated turnout at about 5,000.

“Our generation and the next generation need to remember where we came from,” Minnesotan Morrison Johnny told the crowd.
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More recently, some options to reunite with family in the United States have gone away as well. One program that allows refugees to sponsor their parents, spouses and unmarried children ended for the Karen last year, though some participants are still waiting to travel to Minnesota. In a recent executive order, President Trump put on indefinite hold another family reunification program, for spouses and children of refugees who came within the past two years.

The end of Karen resettlement has troubled the Minnesota community. The Karen Organization estimates there are 17,000 from the ethnic group in the state, including some who moved here after they were resettled elsewhere. There are also as many as 2,000 residents from the Karenni and other Myanmar minorities...........

Read more: Link to sourcehttp://www.startribune.com/minnesota-s-karen-refugees-join-march-on-washington-to-keep-pressure-on-myanmar/455631113/#1

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we know the Trump Adm does not care for refugees.





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GalleryGallery: Members of the Karen ethnic group hold a giant Karen flag as they rally to bring attention to the human rights violations towards religious and ethnic minorities in the Burma region, in front of the U.S. Capitol building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.,