This Is What It Means To Be A Refugee

I am going to tell you guys the process of how I became an refugee admitted to the United States of American and how long it actually is.

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Arnessa (@Rrrrnessa) November 18, 2015

But I'd like you to keep in mind that the process to admit Syrian refugees to the U.S.A is even more complex.

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Arnessa (@Rrrrnessa) November 18, 2015

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Okay so first things first you apply for refugee status with a U.N agency. The application process isn't just a piece of paper.

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Arnessa (@Rrrrnessa) November 18, 2015

You have to submit ALL your documents. Birth certificates, report cards from school, IDs, driver licenses, passports, old utility bills.

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Arnessa (@Rrrrnessa) November 18, 2015

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If you're displaced, you have to provide proof that you are displaced. That your house was bombed/burned or that there are squatters in it.

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Arnessa (@Rrrrnessa) November 18, 2015

You have to write down your story. All your family members do. Where you were born, where you are now, what you're doing, everything.

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Arnessa (@Rrrrnessa) November 18, 2015

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You have to provide them with names of ALL your family members, dead and alive. All your friends, neighbors, teachers. Everyone.

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Arnessa (@Rrrrnessa) November 18, 2015

You have to provide their contact information as well. If some of them are dead you have to provide proof they are dead or missing.

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Arnessa (@Rrrrnessa) November 18, 2015

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This is the first step so let's say month 1.

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Arnessa (@Rrrrnessa) November 18, 2015

Over the next 12 months they will review you the information you provided, check the validity of your documents and check your references.

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Arnessa (@Rrrrnessa) November 18, 2015

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The Girl In The Yellow Dress

President Obama meets a 16-year-old refugee girl from Myanmar who was subjected to human trafficking and will now be moving to the United States, following a tour of the Dignity for Children Foundation in Kuala Lumpur.

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The President:

This young lady here is 16 years old, fled Myanmar on her own when she was eight, and was subject to human trafficking until the United Nations was able to help her resettle. She’s now 16, and intends to be an advocate on behalf of fellow refugees in the future after she gets an education in the United States.

This is who we want to help. This is the face of people all around the world who still look to the United States as a beacon of hope. When we talk about American leadership, American leadership is us caring about people who have been forgotten, or who have been discriminated against, or who have been tortured, or who have been subject to unspeakable violence, or have been separated from families at very young ages. That’s American leadership.  That’s when we’re the shining light on the hill.  Not when we respond on the basis of fear.

Full remarks here

* The White House declined to name the girl out of concern for the safety of her parents still in Myanmar.

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Early Bird Chat

President Obama talks with refugee children at the Dignity for Children Foundation in Malaysia (Photo by Pete Souza)