Published Sunday, August 19, 2001 http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/081901/met_6987683.

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Burmese natives seek hope in Jacksonville

About 100 refugees want to stay together

By Alliniece T. Andino Times-Union staff writer, He comes from a place where he doesn't know who is a government informant and who is not. His parents have died, one at the hands of the military. So he no longer has anyone to shield in the country he left behind. Ja Dan Bawmwang journeyed from Myanmar to England for schooling, to the U.S. territory of Guam for refuge and then to Jacksonville with his wife for political asylum. Bawmwang, 33, and his wife fled Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, because they disagree with the military rule. Had they stayed there and spoken out, they say their lives and their families' lives would have been endangered. Nearly 100 Kachin, members of an ethnic group from Myanmar, will resettle in Jacksonville this month.Jacksonville is the only U.S. city where they will live. The three agencies handling the Kachin are World Relief, Episcopal Migration Ministries and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services. "I had a problem for criticizing the government. I had to leave Burma," said Bawmwang, who recently arrived in Jacksonville. The country's name was changed from Burma to Myanmar in 1989, after the military seized power the previous year. Bawmwang was among the more than 1,000 people who fled to Guam from the Southeast Asian country in the past year. About 100 will resettle in Jacksonville this month. "I just sought a safe place, then I found I could seek political asylum there," said Bawmwang, who arrived in Guam in August 2000. Bawmwang and other refugees entered Guam under a visa waiver program that promotes tourism, but they remained after their two weeks expired. They applied for political asylum and

waited. After five months, they applied for work permits and several more months passed. Out of 1,000 Burmese, Bawmwang guessed fewer than 20 were able to work. Some Burmese lived with 40 others in four-bedroom apartments. Bawmwang and his wife shared a three-bedroom flat with 10 others because he said, "If you didn't do that, who is going to help you?" He laughed, eyes squinting, as he recalled the hardest part was sharing the one bathroom. Often the Burmese came to Guam with money, $300 or $500. But the funds ran out quickly in the small province that caters to the expensive tastes of Japanese tourists. And as the Burmese awaited word that their asylum was granted or they were approved for work, they started to burden the economy. A refugee resettlement coordinator said Guam had an unemployment rate of 15 percent. Guam's congressional delegate, Robert A. Underwood, sought assistance. At his urging, Myanmar was suspended from the visa waiver program, but not before about 1,000 Burmese had moved to Guam. The government stepped in to help resettle the Burmese; among the workers was Russell Bloom, program director of Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida. Bloom suggested the 100 Kachin, an ethnic group in Myanmar who were among those seeking political asylum and who didn't want to be dispersed, come to Jacksonville. Bawmwang and his wife are Kachin. As one of the ethnic minorities who practice Christianity in a predominantly Buddhist nation, Bawmwang recalled a childhood where he despised the government. Bawmwang speaks somewhat freely, but he is guarded. He said he was 2 years old when his father, a member of the Kachin Independent Army, died in a bombing engineered by the military. He remembered his mother being interrogated throughout his childhood. She died of natural causes when he was 9. When he was older, Bawmwang joined the the Kachin Independent Army for a few months, but later fled to Thailand. However, Thailand was no solution because the Thai government returned refugees to Myanmar if caught. Bawmwang returned to Myanmar on his own but left again to escape political persecution and to study engineering at the University of Westminster in London. When he graduated, he reunited with his wife in Myanmar and they flew to Guam. "When we got to the Guam airport, it was like in the Bible," Bawmwang said with a smile. "You are in the promised land now." After a few weeks, when money ran low and no work permit was available, he wondered what to do next.

Bawmwang and others survived on donated clothing, blankets and food from area churches. Relief came when the health department officials arrived to process those seeking political asylum. What would have taken eight years happened in a matter of weeks, Bawmwang said. "God bless them for what they have done. We are really blessed people," he said. When Bawmwang arrived in Jacksonville, he wasn't expecting to have a bed, food and dishes. He didn't expect volunteers from Crown Point Baptist Church and World Relief to escort him to appointments and to run errands. "If your heart is right, you have to help," said the Rev. Mitch Etheridge, associate pastor at Crown Point. Elaine Carson, executive director of World Relief, said the Burmese need jobs, transportation and friendship, but she believes they will be a great asset to the Jacksonville community because many are well educated. "They will be future leaders in business and politics in our community," she said. However, for Bawmwang that future is uncertain. His smile faded when he looked to his wife and said, "She just cries and there's nothing I can do except pray." For her family's protection, Bawmwang's wife doesn't want her name used in the newspaper. Family members in Myanmar will be detained and interrogated if word reaches overseas she spoke to the media, he said. "They will feel that we betrayed them," Bawmwang said. Bawmwang said he'll stay in the United States until the situation in Myanmar improves. He guesses it will take five years, but doesn't know.