In Search of Safety

by Susan Kuklin

  p. 75: “Those who pass are eventually offered a permanent home in a third country”: According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, from 2005 to 2008, the UNHCR “helped resettle more than 20,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailand — including Karens and other minority groups — in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden[,] Norway . . . and Ireland.” (Steven O’Brien, “It’s a Long Way from Myanmar for Karen Refugees,” UNHCR website, January 28, 2008, https://www.unhcr.org/afr/news/latest/2008/1/479e058f2/its-long-way-myanmar-karen-refugee%22s.html/.)

  CHAPTER 8: TV, HAMBURGERS, FOOTBALL

  p. 83: “to attend Karen Martyrs’ Day”: For more information about Karen Martyrs’ Day, see various articles at the Karen News website: http://karennews.org/tag/karen-martyrs-day/.

  p. 85: “I heard that the Susan T. Buffett Scholarship paid full college tuition for students who lived in Nebraska”: See “College Scholarships,” Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, https://buffettscholarships.org.

  CHAPTER 9: IN AFRICA

  p. 101: “The camp collected many lost kids [who came to be known as the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan]”: For more on the lost children of Sudan, see “The Lost Boys of Sudan,” International Rescue Committee website, October 3, 2014, https://www.rescue.org/article/lost-boys-sudan, and Emmanuel Nyabera, “The Lost Girls of Sudan,” Refugees 1, No. 126 (2006), 8 – 9, https://www.unhcr.org/3cb5508b2.pdf.

  CHAPTER 10: IN AMERICA

  p. 110: “We had our I-94, a document that said we could come to U.S.”: An I-94 is a “record of admission” to the United States that every noncitizen receives when entering the country. At the time Nyarout and her family arrived, the I-94 was in paper form. Visitors who were not refugees had the form stapled onto their passports when they arrived and removed when they departed. Now the process is electronic. Because refugees do not have foreign passports, the Department of Homeland Security provides I-94 forms in paper as evidence of their status and employment authorization. (“Definition of an I-94,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection website, July 27, 2017, https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/880/~/definition-of-an-i-94; “Refugee Form I-94 Automation,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website, April 4, 2017, https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/refugee-form-i-94-automation.)

  p. 119: “I finally started going to school through Job Corps”: Job Corps is the largest governmental free education-and-job-training program for young adults between ages sixteen and twenty-four. More information at https://www.jobcorps.gov.

  CHAPTER 11: CAPTURED

  pp. 137 – 139: “Theirs is an ancient religion, spread orally by holy men, that is related to Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam”: Zoroastrianism, founded by the Iranian prophet and religious reformer Zoroaster over three thousand years ago, is one of the oldest religions still practiced today. Its fundamental belief is in the presence of a supreme god, Ahura Mazda, and the struggle between his twin children Spentu Mainyu (the spirit of good) and Angra Mainyu (the spirit of evil). See “Zoroastrianism,” History Channel website, August 23, 2018, https://www.history.com/topics/religion/zoroastrianism.

  Mithraism is an ancient and enigmatic Persian religion that is even older than Zoro-astrianism and had a resurgence in the Roman Empire from the second to fourth centuries CE. Mithra was the Iranian god of the sun, justice, contracts, and war.

  For additional information about Yazidi history and beliefs, see Avi Asher-Schapiro, “Who Are the Yazidis, the Ancient, Persecuted Religious Minority Struggling to Survive in Iraq?” National Geographic News, August 11, 2014, https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140809-iraq-yazidis-minority-isil-religion-history.

  p. 143: “A master is prohibited from having intercourse . . .”: This wording is from an ISIS pamphlet that was, according to Human Rights Watch, “posted on a pro-ISIS Twitter account and generally considered authentic” and that included rules for having sex with captured and enslaved non-Muslim women and girls. (Kenneth Roth, “Slavery: The ISIS Rules,” Human Rights Watch website, September 5, 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/09/05/slavery-isis-rules; see also: Rukmini Callimachi, “ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape,” New York Times, August 13, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/14/world/middleeast/isis-enshrines-a-theology-of-rape.html.)

  p. 145: “especially those who resisted reading the Quran”: The term Quran is a transliteration from the Arabic. It can also be transliterated as Qur’an or Koran.

  CHAPTER 12: FOR SALE

  p. 148: “these two tiny villages were once Shiite towns . . .”: Shiite (Shia) and Sunni are the two branches of Islam. As DePaul University law professor and Islamic scholar M. Cherif Bassiouni explained it, “The Sunni tradition, which today comprises approximately 85 – 90 percent of all Muslims, differs from Shia tradition, which comprises the remainder of the Muslim world. The distinction between the two traditions essentially derives from different approaches to governance. The Sunni believe, based on specific provisions of the Quran and the Sunna [part of Muslim law based on Muhammad’s words], that the Muslim people are to be governed by consensus (ijma’) through an elected head of state, the khalifa, according to democratic principles. The Shia, however, believe that the leader of Islam, whom they refer to as the imam rather than the khalifa, must be a descendant of the Prophet. The concept is the basis for a hereditary hierarchy in the Shia tradition.” (“Schools of Thought in Islam,” Middle East Institute website, January 24, 2012, http://www.mei.edu/publications/schools-thought-islam.)

  p. 149: “She was forced to marry this militant under Sharia law”: The word Sharia, or Sharī‘ah, literally means “the path to a watering hole.” Again as Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni has explained, “The Sharia contains the rules by which a Muslim society is organized and governed, and it provides the means to resolve conflicts among individuals and between the individual and the state.” (“Islamic Law: The Shariah,” Middle East Institute website, January 24, 2012, http://www.mei.edu/publications/islamic-law-shariah.)

  p. 149: “During the Roji and Eda Rojiet Ezi holiday”: Roji and Eda Rojiet Ezi (Fasting and Feasting) is one of the most important Yazidi holidays of the year. Participants fast from dawn to sunset for three days. After sunset, there is food, celebration, and prayer. (“Holidays,” Yezidis International website, accessed December 5, 2108, http://www.yezidisinternational.org/abouttheyezidipeople/holidays.)

  CHAPTER 13: THE BLACK HOLE OF CAPTIVITY

  p. 164: “I kissed the hand of our spiritual leader, Baba Sheikh, as an act of respect”: Baba Sheikh is the spiritual head of the Yazidis. He presides over Yazidi ceremonies, especially those at the Lalish Temple. See “Yezidi Religious Tradition,” YezidiTruth.org, accessed December 5, 2018, http://www.yeziditruth.org/yezidi_religious_tradition.

  CHAPTER 14: AFTER

  To learn more about the Yazidi people and the 2014 genocide, see Yazda’s website, https://www.yazda.org. An excellent source and powerful read is the book The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State by the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Nadia Murad (listed in For Further Reading on page 241).

  CHAPTER 15: EARLY ONE MORNING

  p. 173: “Much has been reported about he 1994 massacre of Tutsis by Hutus. . .”: For additional information about the Hutus and Tutsis of Burundi, see “Burundi: The situation of the Tutsi, including the Tutsi elite; their treatment by the authorities and by society; and protection provided to them (December 2015 – February 2017),” Ref World, UNHCR website, updated January 18, 2019, https://www.refworld.org/docid/58cfb9f14.html.

  p. 176: “The name of the camp was Mtendeli . . .”: For photographs of Mtendeli refugee camp, search for “Mtendeli Refugee Camp photos.”

  p. 179: “Probably this compared to the ACT [American College Testing] or SAT [Scholastic Aptitute Test] for high schools here”: The ACT and SAT are college entrance exams in the United States. See http://www.act.org or http://
collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat.

  CHAPTER 17: UMOJA

  The photographs in this chapter were taken during a rehearsal and three church services. The Swahili words and phrases that are included were spoken during the services.

  ca. 500 BCE: Darius of Persia conquers the territory.

  ca. 334 BCE: Alexander the Great of Macedonia conquers the territory.

  700 CE: Islamic forces conquer the territory.

  1218:Genghis Khan conquers the territory.

  1400s: Tamerlane conquers the territory.

  1839 – 1842: First Anglo-Afghan war. The British install Shah Shujah as the king. He is assassinated in 1842.

  1878 – 1880: Second Anglo-Afghan war. A treaty gives Britain control of foreign affairs.

  1893: Great Britain creates an informal border separating Afghanistan from India.

  1919: Emir Amanullah Khan declares Afghanistan an independent country.

  1926: Emir Amanullah Khan declares himself king and announces a series of reforms. Three years later, in 1929, civil instability permeates the country. Khan flees. Zahir Shah becomes king, bringing some stability to the country.

  1953: The pro-Soviet general Mohammed Daoud, cousin of the king, becomes prime minister and looks to the Soviet Union for economic and military assistance.

  1973: Mohammed Daoud overthrows the king in a military coup. He abolishes the monarchy and names himself president. The Republic of Afghanistan is established with strong ties to the USSR.

  1978: Mohammed Daoud is killed in a pro-Soviet coup.

  1979: The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. Backed by Soviet troops, Babrak Karmal becomes ruler.

  1984: Osama bin Laden of Saudi Arabia travels to Afghanistan to aid anti-Soviet fighters.

  1986: The United States supplies the Mujahideen (Afghan rebels) with Stinger missiles, enabling them to shoot down Soviet helicopter gunships.

  1989: The Soviets withdraw. Civil war continues.

  1992: The Mujahideen fight among themselves for control of Afghanistan.

  1996: The Taliban rise to power on promises of peace.

  2001: Ignoring international protests, the Taliban destroy ancient Buddhist statues in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, saying they are an affront to Islam.

  2001: Hijackers commandeer four commercial airplanes and crash them into the World Trade Center Towers in New York; the Pentagon, outside Washington, D.C.; and a Pennsylvania field. U.S. officials say that Osama bin Laden is the prime suspect in the attack and demand his extradition. The Taliban refuse to turn over bin Laden. U.S. and British forces launch air strikes against targets in Afghanistan.

  2002: The Loya Jirga (“grand council”) elects U.S.-backed Hamid Karzai as president.

  2003: U.S. offensive begins against Kandahar Province and Al-Qaeda. NATO takes command of peacekeeping troops.

  2008: U.S. president George W. Bush sends 4,500 additional troops to Afghanistan.

  2014: Ashraf Ghani is sworn in as president. NATO, including the U.S. and Great Britain, formally ends its thirteen-year combat operations.

  2015: At the request of President Ghani, President Barack Obama delays U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

  2016: More than 1 million Afghans are displaced during the war. NATO and the U.S. agree to keep troops in place until 2020.

  1824 – 1826, 1852: The Karens support the British in the first and second Anglo-Burmese wars.

  1881: The Karen National Association (KNA) is founded by Western-educated Karens to represent Karen interests with the British.

  1885: The Karens support the British in the third Anglo-Burmese war.

  1886: Burma becomes a province of British India.

  1941 – 1945: During World War II, the Karens fight alongside Allied forces; the Burmese fight alongside the Japanese.

  1948: Great Britain grants Burma independence. Karens and other ethnic populations become incorporated as part of Burma. Massacres in Karen villages quickly follow.

  1949: The Karen National Union (KNU), prosperous from imports and logging, uses some of its wealth to arm the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).

  1960s: “Four Cuts” operations. The Burmese Army targets Karen civilians who support the KNLA.

  1962: The Burmese military takes control of the area and turns it into a dictatorship.

  1984: The first Karen refugees arrive in Thailand.

  1989: The Burmese military changes the name of the country from Burma to Myanmar.

  1990s: Karen and other ethnic people move to refugee camps inside the Thai border. The Myanmar army attacks and burns down several camps.

  2005: A resettlement program is set up with Western countries.

  2011: More than 70,000 Karen people are resettled in the United States.

  1820: Sudan is conquered by Turkey and Egypt. The slave trade develops.

  1882:Great Britain invades Sudan.

  1885: An Islamic state is founded.

  1899: Sudan is governed by British-Egyptian rule.

  1955: The First Sudanese Civil War, led by the separatist rebel army Anya-Nya, begins in the North.

  1956: Sudan becomes an independent country.

  1962: Civil war breaks out in the southern (Christian) part of the country.

  1969: Gaafar Nimeiry becomes prime minister of Sudan after a military coup.

  1972: The First Sudanese Civil War ends. A peace agreement signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, gives partial autonomy to southern Sudan.

  1978: Oil is discovered in Bentiu, in southern Sudan. Sudanese leaders try to redraw the countries’ boundaries, transferring the oil fields to the North.

  1983: The Second Sudanese Civil War begins. Approximately 26,000 young Nuer and Dinka boys, known as the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan, are separated from their families.

  1985: President Nimeiry is removed from power in a military coup.

  2001: Hunger and famine affect 3 million people. The Nile river floods, leaving thousands homeless.

  2005: The Second Sudanese Civil War ends.

  2005: The North/South Comprehensive Peace Agreement offers a permanent ceasefire and autonomy for the South. Former southern rebel leader John Garang is sworn in as the first vice president but is killed in a plane crash three weeks later.

  2011: South Sudan becomes independent and joins the United Nations.

  2013: Fighting breaks out between rival ethnic militias, the Nuers and the Dinkas.

  2015: A peace agreement between the Dinkas and the Nuers is signed. Smaller ethnic groups are left out. This agreement collapses and fighting resumes.

  2017: The U.N. reports on famine caused by civil war and economic collapse. One million children have fled South Sudan. Another million children are displaced within the country. South Sudan becomes the world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis.

  637: Muslims burn and destroy much of the Yazidi territory.

  980 – 981: Islamic Kurdish armies massacre Yazidis living in the Hakkar region.

  1107: The Muslim expansion massacres about 50,000 Yazidi families.

  1218: The Mongols, under the leadership of Hulagu Khan, massacre Yazidi families.

  1254: War between Muslims and Yazidis. The Yazidis’ sacred shrine at Lalish is desecrated, and the bones of their greatest saint, Sheikh Adi, are taken from his tomb and burned.

  1414: Persians, with the help of the Kurds, go to war with the Yazidis.

  1585: The Kurds kill more than 600 Yazidis living in Sinjar.

  1640 – 1641: Yazidi villages near Mosul are attacked and looted by the Turkish Ottoman governor.

  1715: The army of the Ottoman governor of Baghdad attacks the Yazidis.

  1767: Ottoman leader Amin Pasha and his son lead troops against the Yazidis living in Sinjar.

  1771: Bedagh Beg, a Yazidi leader, revolts against Amin Pasha. Bedagh Beg is killed along with most of his men.

  1785: The Ottoman mayor of Mosul attacks the Yazidis in Sinjar and is at first defeated. He allies with other Arab forces and succ
eeds.

  1795: Ottomans and Kurds destroy Yazidi villages.

  1809 – 1810: The Ottoman mayor of Baghdad attacks the Yazidis in Sinjar.

  1838: The Ottoman mayor of Mosul, Tayar Pasha, sends an envoy to the Yazidis with an order to pay taxes. The envoy is killed. Tayar Pasha invades Yazidi villages. The Yazidis withdraw to caves and fight back. Tayar Pasha suffers many loses and returns to Mosul. Peace comes to the Sinjar.

  1892: Ottoman leader Omer Wahbi Pasha gives the Yazidis the choice of converting to Islam or paying higher taxes or being killed. Many Yazidis are killed.

  1914 – 1917: During World War I, the Yazidis assist more than 20,000 Armenians fleeing the Ottoman Turks.

  1918: The Ottoman air force bombs Sinjar in retribution.

  1935: Yazidi leaders revolt against the Iraqi army.

  1975: The de facto leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, labels the Yazidis “devil worshippers” and begins a new wave of persecution.

  2007: The Yazidis stone to death a local girl who wished to convert and marry a Muslim man.

  2007: Eight hundred Yazidis are killed when a fuel tanker and three cars filled with explosives are driven into Sinjar villages and detonated.

  2014: ISIS (also known as ISIL or the Islamic State) captures Sinjar. Kurdish military troops withdraw without a fight.

  1300s: Hutu people, believed to have come from the Great Lakes region of West Africa, settle in East Africa.