The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
James Walker: Immigration? Lady Liberty, don’t you weep
World Refugee Day commemorated at Trinity on the Green
NEW HAVEN — Residents came together to celebrate refugees and denounce the separation and detention of children and families Saturday, as World Refugee Day was commemorated with food, fellowship, music and passion at Trinity on the Green.
Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, a city-based organization, has been holding an event to mark World Refugee Day for more than a decade, according to director of community and engagement Ann O’Brien.
But the event took on particular urgency this year, as the Trump administration separated children from their families at the U.S. border, O’Brien said.
“No other county takes away children from people that are seeking safety,” said O’Brien. “What the U.S. has chosen to do in the past few weeks is completely unacceptable — it’s inhumane, and a reunification needs to happen for those families immediately.”
In partnership with ActionNow Connecticut, the group chose to open the traditional concert to the public and host a rally as well.
Speakers Saturday included young refugees who have found a home in America, politicians, a doctor and a professor and clergy, interspersed with songs by Thabisa, a singer born in South Africa, living in New Haven.
The Rev. Luk De Volder, the pastor at Trinity, said he was an immigrant himself, and despite the separation of families, still wanted to be a citizen. But refugees deserve respect, he said.
“We are here to honor every human being, every refugee, and to say welcome,” said De Volder.
IRIS young refugee leaders Nour Al-Zouabi, originally from Syria, and Gladys Mwilelo, previously of the Congo, spoke of the refugee experience and what World Refugee Day meant to them.
Mwilelo concluded her remarks with an appeal to the better angels of our nature, speaking out against the separation of families and noting that World Refugee Day was also about understanding.
“I urge you all to get involved, because we are all humankind,” said Mwilelo. “And humankind, what we always do, is support one another, stick close together, show each other direction, embrace each other, and not (let) each other down.”
State Rep. Robyn Porter, DNew Haven, and Analis Quintman of Action Together CT, spoke against the Trump administration’s recent treatment of asylum seekers, immigrants, and the separation of children and families.
“It is not okay to separate children — babies and toddlers and youth and teenagers — from their families, because, as a mom, I can tell you there’d (have) to be something really terrible going on for me to take my kids, in tow, to a country I know nothing about in the hope of having a better life, but also realizing that that trip could cost us our lives,” said Porter. “These are not illegals; these are refugees seeking asylum, seeking a better life and an opportunity to live.” David Pettigrew, a professor of philosophy at Southern Connecticut State University, walked through how hate speech and persecution can serve as a predecessor to
genocide, and spoke against both the separation of children and the potential detention of families on military bases, offering up the example of the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II.
“What is clear is that we once again are at the mercy of racial prejudice, hysteria, and the failure of political leadership. We have learned from history that we must (speak against) such hate; we must protest,” said Pettigrew. “It is our responsibility to hold our President accountable for such hateful and inhumane policies masquerading as the rule of law and for such gross human rights violations carried out under the pretense of national security.”
Megan Goslin, a child trauma specialist, said the detention policy harmed children in multiple ways — both by causing them lasting trauma and denying them the comfort of their loved ones, which has both mental and physiological benefits — and that incarcerating families as a whole was “essentially trading one horror for another.”
Before the speeches, families and visitors gathered for a tasting coordinated by Cityseed’s Sanctuary Kitchen, as foodstuffs from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo were offered.
Children played tag in the grass and the gravel; people enjoyed food and each other’s company.
Samuel Rose was there with his father, Dariush, serving ice cream as part of their company, Green Leaf Catering.
Rose said he and his family had come to the United States from Iran with the help of IRIS seven years ago. America offered them the chance to worship as Christians in peace, he said, and they were able to found their own business.
People have misconceptions about refugees — many, like his family, come here to seek their basic human rights.
“You can freely believe in anything (in America)… and nobody’s after your life,” said Rose.
Mariame Kazadi’s family fled the Democratic Republic of Congo, settling here with the aid of IRIS. She came to the United States at 8-years-old.
“It was a new start of life for me, and I am really grateful and happy to be here,” said Kazadi, now a youth leader with IRIS. “(I want those in attendance) to know we’re strong, we’re brave, because we’ve gone through too much. But we still want to have change — a change to live, not (to forget) about our past, (but) to have an assurance we’re going to live safe in America.”