NASHVILLE (USA): For years the US government has been settling refugees from all over the world in Nashville, a city small enough for newcomers to navigate, but large enough to provide for their needs.
They came to the US for different reasons: fleeing the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, Iran’s ayatollah, genocide in Africa, war in Iraq.
They are coming again from new places. About 60,000 Bhutanese are being admitted to the US over religious tensions. The State Department hasn’t said how many, but some of them will land in Nashville.
The same issue in Myanmar is also bringing people to the Music City.
Nearly 3,100 refugees have resettled in Nashville since 2002, according to the latest State Department figures. That’s about one per cent of the US national total of refugees.
Carter Moody, development director of the Center for Refugees and Immigrants of Tennessee, is trying to find more grants to assist an influx of refugees arriving at a difficult time.
“Over time, Nashville and several other heartland cities Denver, Iowa City, Minneapolis have gained more mature social services that were on par with the East and West Coast,” Moody said. “The affordable housing market was a factor attracting them, and manufacturing jobs have made Middle Tennessee a portal.”
The center was formerly called the Somali Community Center, serving the estimated 3,500 Somalis and Sudanese. Kurdish people, numbering at least 10,000, make up Nashville’s largest refugee population.
Mohamed Abdikarim was 11 years old when he came to the US from Somalia. He and his parents had to overcome a major culture shock and he had to help his parents assimilate.—AP
