Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
Significant secondary migration of Myanmar refugees to Omaha
Posted by Christopher Coen on July 23, 2012
For some reason refugees from Myanmar have been moving to Omaha after first being resettled in other states and cities. A local resettlement agency estimates that between 3,000 and 5,000 such refugees have arrived this way. An article in the Omaha World-Herald has the figures:
…The U.S. began resettling those refugees [from Myanmar] in significant numbers in recent years: nearly 17,000 in 2011, up from 128 a decade ago. Last year, one in three incoming refugees nationally was from Burma, and more than half of the refugees coming to Nebraska and Iowa were.
They are a mixture of Karen, Karenni, Chin and Kachin ethnic groups and Burmese Muslims persecuted for their religious beliefs in a country with Buddhist, Christian and animist roots.
Omaha’s reputation as a hospitable place for Karen and other Burmese also has drawn “secondary migrants,” meaning refugees who resettled initially in other U.S. cities. A resettlement worker with Lutheran Family Services estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000 such refugees are here… Read more here
