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Hoping for an Airport Reunion: One Refugee Family's Story

2017-03-07 · story · John · 4:54 · watch on YouTube

Topic: US politics & society · mode: Personal essay · tags: timely hook, heavy topic, fundraising ask, self promotion

John tells the story of Burmese refugee Saw Kyar Aye, who fled forced labour, met his wife Thet Thet in Malaysia and waited over four years, through a clerical error and an executive order, to be reunited with her and their son in Indianapolis, a reunion John witnessed; with a new blanket ban announced, he argues the debate on refugee numbers must start by seeing refugees as people.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting; John is a sucker for airport reunions

  • ★ John says he is a total sucker for airport reunions and has seen many, having spent about a third of his adult life in airports. — 00:00:00

00:00:10 — Saw Kyar Aye's forced labour in Burma, escape to Malaysia, marriage to Thet Thet; dizzying refugee bureaucracy

  • ★★ John says Saw Kyar Aye was born in Burma and as a young man was taken from his community by the army and forced to work on road construction. — 00:00:15
  • ★★ John says conditions for forced labour in Burma are horrible and it remains a problem despite the country's steps toward democracy in the past decade. — 00:00:22
  • ★★ John says beatings by soldiers are common and deserters have been executed. — 00:00:30
  • ★★ John says persecution of religious and ethnic minorities is also common in Burma, and Saw Kyar Aye is both: a Christian and a member of the ethnic Chin minority. — 00:00:33
  • ★★ John says Saw Kyar Aye escaped his forced labour crew in 2008, reached Malaysia and registered as a refugee with UNHCR, but could not legally work there nor risk returning home as a deserter. — 00:00:41
  • ★★ John says Saw Kyar Aye found unofficial work in a restaurant where he met Thet Thet, a fellow Burmese refugee and waitress; they married, but their refugee cases were processed separately. — 00:00:57
  • ★★ John says refugee bureaucracy is dizzying: many layers of vetting, only a tiny fraction ever approved for resettlement, and approval comes at any time as a one-time offer. — 00:01:09

00:01:28 — Resettled alone in Indianapolis in 2012; aside on refugees, crime and wages

  • ★★★ John says Saw Kyar Aye was approved in 2012 but Thet Thet was not; told spouses reunite easily, they decided he should go, and he left for Indianapolis in December 2012 with her eight months pregnant. — 00:01:28 · Indianapolis
  • ★★ John says more than 13,000 Burmese refugees now live in Indianapolis. — 00:01:51 · Indianapolis
  • ★★ John says Saw Kyar Aye found a church, friends and a job in a Clif bar factory, but first filed for family reunification. — 00:01:54
  • ★★★ John says refugee resettlement has not increased US crime rates in Indianapolis or elsewhere and is in fact associated with community crime rates dropping (sources below). — 00:02:08 · Indianapolis
  • ★★ John says there is little evidence that refugee resettlement negatively affects employment or wages. — 00:02:17

00:02:23 — Delays, the clerical error, and the executive order halting resettlement

  • ★★ John says that in 2013 Thet Thet was in Malaysia caring for baby son Saw Kyar Min; in April 2014 the family was told they would come, but a clerical error cancelled the trip. — 00:02:25
  • ★★ John says the error was that a refugee database held two Saw Kyar Ayes and listed Thet Thet as married to the other one, so the process started again. — 00:02:42
  • ★★ John says Thet Thet and Saw Kyar Min were approved again in 2016, with visas issued and travel planned. — 00:02:52
  • ★★ John says an executive order then halted all refugee resettlement into the United States for at least 120 days. — 00:03:00
  • ★★ John says Saw Kyar Aye began to wonder if he would ever see his son, whom he had prepared to start school in Indiana. — 00:03:06 · Indiana

00:03:23 — A court ruling, the flight, and the airport reunion John witnesses through Exodus

  • ★★ John says a court ruled much of the executive order invalid, and days later Thet Thet and Saw Kyar Min flew to New York and then Indianapolis. — 00:03:23 · New York City, Indianapolis
  • ★★ John says he and Saw Kyar Aye have both worked with Exodus, a local resettlement organization, through which he was invited to the reunion, and he walked in nervous. — 00:03:32
  • ★★★ John says he witnessed the best airport reunion ever: Saw Kyar Aye saw his wife for the first time in over four years and held his son for the first time. — 00:03:47

00:03:56 — The new blanket ban; the conversation must start by seeing refugees as people

  • ★★★ John says no one can seriously think reuniting this family threatens the strength or prosperity of the United States, but to be a refugee is to have your life defined by powers beyond your control. — 00:03:56

    “to be a refugee is to have much of your life defined by powers far beyond your control”

  • ★★★ John says that yesterday a new blanket ban on refugee resettlement was announced for at least 120 days, so many families told to expect reunions will now have to wait. — 00:04:08

  • ★★★ John says the US needs a discussion about how many refugees to resettle each year, but a blanket ban is a terrible way to start that conversation. — 00:04:19
  • ★★★ John says the conversation must instead start by seeing refugees as people with individual stories who love their families and want them safe. — 00:04:28

00:04:37 — P.S.: the 100 Days 10K race, sponsorship proceeds to Exodus

  • ★★ In a P.S., John says he and his best friend Chris are on a health and fitness journey on 100 Days and will run a 10K race on day 100, with all proceeds to Exodus. — 00:04:39 · 100 Days
  • ★★ John invites viewers to sponsor the 10K run, with all proceeds going to Exodus, via the link below (the description links a GoFundMe). — 00:04:46 · 100 Days

In the description and comments

  • ★★ John notes that the study behind his crime claim found an association, not causation, between refugee resettlement and lower crime rates. — video description
  • ★★ John adds that, in general, immigrants in the United States commit crimes at a lower rate than native-born people. — video description · United States
  • ★★ John calls the question of whether immigration reduces wages very hotly contested, but says refugees entering the US are more thoroughly vetted and more likely to be highly educated, so they almost certainly do not decrease wages. (hedged) — video description · United States
  • ★★ John cites the Brookings Institution's claim that immigrant workers on average increase Americans' opportunities and incomes, while other studies find large influxes of immigrants depress wages for some low-skilled workers. — video description
  • ★ John says he would someday like to make a video about the complex relationship between immigration and wages, unemployment and economic growth, but not today. — video description
  • ★★ John points readers to a disturbing story about forced labour of the persecuted Rohingya minority in Myanmar. — video description
  • ★★ John clarifies that Saw Kyar Aye's family is not Rohingya, most of whom are Muslims, but Christians of Chin ethnicity, and that Chin people have frequently been targets of forced labour. — video description
  • ★ John thanks Sara Hindi and everyone at Exodus Refugee International for making the video possible, and Mark Olsen for videography and editing. — video description

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: refugee · Saw Kyar Aye · Thet Thet

Also: People: Chris Waters · Saw Kyar Min

Projects: 100 Days

Organizations: Exodus Refugee Immigration · UNHCR

Groups: Chin people

Concepts: immigration and crime · Unfree labour

Places: Indiana · Indianapolis · Malaysia · Myanmar · New York City

Products: Clif Bar

Policies: Executive Order 13769 · Executive Order 13780

Only in the description or credits: Brookings Institution · economic growth · Mark Olsen · Rohingya · Sara Hindi

Also centred on refugee: Volunteering (In Your Pants) · THE PROJECT FOR AWESOME 2013 IS UPON US! · Understanding the Refugee Crisis in Europe, Syria, and around the World · The Refugee Crises: Project for Awesome 2015 · Aida and Majeeda: Thoughts from the Azraq Refugee Camp · The Extraordinary Story of Hussam: Teenager, Writer, and Syrian Refugee

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