Refugee Stories — Refugee Stories

I came to the United States on July 8, 1976 with my parents. When we arrived, I was probably 7 years old because I was put in third grade. The journey of leaving our country of Laos took several years. The Hmong had been displaced in Laos for many years due to being recruited by the CIA to be their foot soldiers during the Vietnam War. My father and thousands of young men were part of their Special Guerilla Unit. Our elders tell us that CIA representatives told Hmong leaders that they would be provided with all of the resources...

My name is Mirza Huremovic and I am a Bosnian refugee. I was born in Germany in 1995, five years before my family came to the United States. The war in Bosnia was in full force from 1992 to 1995, so my mom fled to Germany where I was born. My mom, dad, older brother, and I came to America in 2000 looking for opportunity, like many others do. When we arrived in America, I was about five years old. In Bosnia and Germany, everyone thought about America as being so big and exciting. It definitely changes your perspective once...

My name is Arapp Jeylanii. I am Somali, but I was born in Nairobi, Kenya. My mother and the rest of my family were fleeing Somalia, and I was born in Kenya on the way. After that, we all fled to America in 1995 when I was 3 months old, including my four siblings- two brothers, two sisters, all older than me. Because I left Kenya at such a young age, I didn’t get to see much of what Africa really was. The main thing I had was images and videos and stories from my family. We all saw America...

I was born in Cuba and left with my parents when I was six years old. When I arrived in America, I didn’t even know how to say “yes”. We stayed at this little hotel in Miami and I remember one of the people working at the hotel was teaching me English. I started school and still didn’t speak much English, but knew I had to learn. It’s like when you’re thrown into a pool and forced to swim so that you don’t drown. Though I was young, what I do remember from our arrival is that people were overwhelmingly...

My name is Victor, I am Liberian, and I come from a refugee camp in Ghana called Buduburam. I was actually born in Ghana because of the Civil War that took place in Liberia. The funny thing is, the people in Ghana didn’t even like us because we were refugees. I didn’t grow up with my parents and we don’t know where they went during the wartime. My sister and I ended up getting displaced and later adopted by my Aunt and her husband. We had been living and going to school in Ghana when we got a resettlement through...