Washington, DC — Torli H. Krua, founder and president of Universal Human Rights International (UHRI), came from Liberia shortly after the war started and is an active advocate for African refugees.
Civil war in Liberia forced more than 7,300 Liberians to seek refuge in the United States. Many Liberian refugees in the United States do not have Temporary Protection Status (TPS) and are not able to earn income. Krua spoke to AllAfrica's Ellen Chan about his mission to pass legislation that would give Liberian refugees permanent status in the United States. Excerpts.
Can you describe the situation Liberian refugees face when they come into the United States?
Liberians are just like people from other countries. Some people come as students and get student visas, religious visas, et cetera. Today, the critical issue [is that] we have about 7,300 people who came here because of the war [and] do not have a work permit. They do not have political asylum, refugee status, or green cards. [They] do not have anything. And they are just living here, [creating] extremely difficult times for their families.
These people have to live with their friends and relatives. When their friends and relatives can no longer carry the burden, they get kicked out and move from one place to another. They have to pull their kids from school. So the instability for Liberians and Sierra Leonians is fettering down to the American citizens and we believe that it is the responsibility of the United States government to protect its own citizens. Right now, it's not happening.
Does the United States provide any support for Liberian refugees once they enter the country?
The United States government does something. First, they bring people who have American born children who are evacuated here by the U.S. government. That is something significant because it spares them of death in those countries. They also provide the kid with food stamps if the child is a U.S. citizen. But it is only for the child and not for the mother.
Even now, they have laws, which make it difficult [to get] housing. For people to be able to get housing, you have to have a job. You have to have an income and so the child is put at risk when the child's parent cannot have an income just because the child's parent does not have a work permit.
The law states that temporary protective status can be given to people whose countries are on the point of extreme difficulties, armed conflict, or other extraordinary natural disasters. The law is already there. People have been granted this law on provision but somehow it is like equal protection. Not everyone has been treated fairly and equally. So that is an issue.
You have said that when Liberian refugees arrive, they are often traumatized and shocked. Can you elaborate on the emotional status of Liberians? Does it get worse?
People come from a war situation where they have been subjected to rape. If you read the paper we have presented, there have been documented incidents of rape. There have been documented incidents of summary execution where people are executed for absolutely no reason, or maybe because of tribal affiliations. Those things disturb the people who are victimized by these things and so they come here, already traumatized by these acts of violence perpetrated by against them. The least they need to do is some healing. They need to get treatment for trauma, to be able to start the healing process. They need their family to be together. A lot of people are not able to get access to healthcare because they have this instability of not getting a job, not being able to hold onto an apartment, [and they have been] separated from their spouse and their children. All these things play on the mind and make it very difficult to concentrate, work and support their families.
What are some of the personal stories you've encountered?
I got a call from this gentleman who went to school here in the United States, who is an engineer and returned to Liberia to rebuild the country and to work there. He was forced to leave because his life was threatened. If he didn't leave, he was going to be killed. He came back to the United States and he has two sons in the U.S. military, in the Air Force. They will be going to Iraq. They want him to come, just to say goodbye. He can't go because now, you have to have a photo ID and Immigration has his documents. He doesn't have a photo ID. He can't even cash a check if they send him \$100. That is one situation.
In Tennessee, we have huge problems of instability affecting them [and] U.S. citizens. In Texas, we have the same thing. In Massachusetts, we have a similar thing. All they want is to have a chance to earn a living, like all the refugees. They need to put their life back together.
What has your organization done to pass this legislation?
What we have organized the African immigrant and refugee communities around the country. For example, we have a coordinator in Nebraska, Iowa, Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, [and] around the country in different places. We have people who are working to do five things: number one, to call members of Congress and ask their friends and relatives to call members of Congress; number two is to write a letter to Congress; three is to set up a face-to-face meeting with members of Congress; four is to expand the network for them to tell all the people about it; five is to attend a weekly conference call where people come to give progress reports on what they have done last week and what they want to do next week. Those are what we have basically established for people to do as civic education because they need to know what to do.
We've also been able to organize advocacy workshops around the country. We've done one in Illinois, in Indiana [and] in Philadelphia. We tell them the structure of the government that each person who has a zip code has someone in the City Hall paid to represent you. Someone in the State House [is] paid to represent you. You need to know who those people are. Someone in the Congress is also paid to represent you. We give training to people from Africa on how the government and life works here.
What are you encouraging people to do?
Anyone who reads this article should put himself in the shoes of these people. War can happen anywhere. Even the United States was attacked by terrorists. Anybody who shoots a civilian person is a terrorist. People should have compassion because the same thing that happened to them happened here in the United States as well. So people can't say, `Well, we don't know anything about it. It never happened here before.' It has happened here. We should do everything we can to contact members of Congress, but go beyond contacting members of Congress. They should contact us. Contact our office and work with us so that we can work together in a concerted effort.
Contact your religious leaders. Every Sunday, people go to church. Every Saturday, people go to synagogues. Every Friday, people go to the mosque to pray to God whom they have never seen and yet we have people living here who are traumatized by war [and] forced out of the country. They are a gift of life. 250,000 people died in that country and yet we have people who have survived and came here just as a human being. We should be able to accommodate these people and give them a chance to start their life afresh. Not preferential treatment. We're not talking about preferential treatment. We are always saying that the same chance that's given to a graduate from Harvard University to go out to look for a job should be given to a poor refugee who has lost his home, lost his spouse [and] lost his children. It's not even a level playing field. But still we want that chance. And that's the least any human being can do.
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Is there anything else that people should know about your organization and its efforts?
I want to make an appeal to the religious community, especially. We need the church to identify with us and stand up for these people at this time. I think that it is extremely important. A lot of people say, `Well, you know, I can't understand this unless it has happened to me.' You don't have to wait for it to happen to you. I think that everyone should look at the plight of these people who are victims of horrific terror that have come to this country to give them a chance. If we don't do it, what good is our democracy?
We cannot take care of the worst victims of terrorism that come to our shoulders seeking food. It's been almost 14 years for Liberians. No permanent status. It's been the same for Sierra Leonians. No permanent status.
After this year, we don't want to be working [on this legislation] anymore. I need to be helping to improve the economy of this country. That's what I should be doing. I shouldn't be sitting out here spending time on legislation that's already been passed in 1990 to keep talking to members of Congress. I shouldn't be doing that. We are all wasting here doing nothing.
