‘We Were Them:’ Vietnamese Americans Help Afghan Refugees

 

Thuy Do was reminded of her own family when she saw the images of Afghans at the airport in Kabul. She saw people desperate to flee their country after the Taliban takeover.

Do remembers hearing how her parents tried to leave Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City, after Vietnam fell to communist rule in 1975. As in Kabul, the American military tried to bring out as many allies¹ as they could from Vietnam by air. But many did not make it out before the American military left.

It took Do's family many years and several failed attempts to finally get out of the country and make it to the United States. She was nine years old when they arrived. Her family had a combined $300. Each person had just two sets of clothes.

Today, Do is a 39-year-old doctor living in Seattle, Washington. Because of her own family's experience, she decided² to help Afghans facing a similar situation.

"We were them 40 years ago," Do said. "With the fall of Saigon in 1975, this was us."

Do and her husband decided to offer an empty house they own to refugee³ resettlement groups. The groups set up the house for newly arriving Afghans in need of a place to stay.

Television images of Afghans seeking to leave on U.S. military flights out of Kabul brought back painful memories for many Vietnamese Americans. They remembered their own attempts to escape Saigon.

The crisis⁴ has also led many Vietnamese Americans to give money to refugee resettlement groups. They are offering housing and legal assistance to arriving Afghans.

Some have also said they want to offer guidance that refugees⁵ and new immigrants may need. This can include how to buy things at a food store, sign up children to go to school or how to drive a car in America.

Since the Vietnam War, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese have come to the United States. They have settled in communities from California to Virginia. Today, Vietnamese Americans are the sixth-largest immigrant group in the country.

The U.S. had long announced plans to withdraw from Afghanistan after a 20-year war. But the military's final days in the country were much more dangerous than expected. More than 180 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members were killed in an attack on the Kabul airport.

In the last two weeks of August, the U.S. removed 31,000 people from Afghanistan. Most of them were Afghans who supported American military efforts.

But many Afghan allies were left behind, with the country now under control of the Taliban militant⁶ group.

In a similar way, many Vietnamese Americans remember how they could not get out before the fall of Saigon to communism.

Some faced long periods in reeducation camps as a punishment for helping⁷ the Americans who had fought in their country. Once they got out of the camps, many tried to leave the country by boat. They took extremely dangerous trips across the sea in hopes of making it to neighboring countries.

Thousands of people did not survive their escape.

Afghans arriving in the United States may have a special status for those who supported U.S. military operations. Some may have been sponsored to come by family members already here. Others are expected to arrive as refugees or seek permission to travel to the U.S. under a process known as humanitarian⁸ parole.

For parole, Afghans need the support of a U.S. citizen or legal resident. Some Vietnamese Americans have signed up to sponsor people they have never met, said Tuan DinhJanelle. He is with the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center.

Other efforts have centered on raising money for refugee resettlement groups. Vietnamese and Afghan American artists held a special music event this month in Southern California to raise money to help Afghan refugees. The Saigon Broadcasting Television Network said the event raised more than $160,000.

The event also aired on Afghan American satellite television, said Bilal Askaryar. He is a spokesperson for the #WelcomeWithDignity campaign aimed at supporting asylum⁹ seekers.

"They saw the need. They saw the parallels," Askaryar said. "It's really powerful to see that they saw that link of common humanity¹⁰ between the Afghan community and the Vietnamese community."

Thi Do is another Vietnamese American who is doing what he can to help. Do is an immigration lawyer in California. He is helping newly arrived Afghans register petitions¹² to have family members join them in the U.S.

Do was a young boy when Saigon fell. His father, who served in the South Vietnamese army, was sent to a reeducation camp. When his father returned, the family left Vietnam by boat in hopes of reaching a country that would take them.

Do remembers how the boat passed dead bodies floating on the water. He remembers how his father apologized for putting him and his brothers and sisters in danger.

Do's family first reached Thailand and Malaysia. But both countries forced them back out to sea. The family later made it to Indonesia, where they were processed at a refugee camp.

Do said, through his work, he has helped people fleeing persecution¹³ before. But until now, no situation has reminded him so much of Vietnam.

Do said, "I see a lot of myself in those children who were running on the tarmac at the airport."

Words in This Story

desperate –adj. very sad or upset because of having little or not hope

status –n. the official position of a person or thing according to the law

sponsored –adj. to be supported or helped by a someone, called a sponsor, who takes responsibility for a person

resident –n. someone who lives in a particular place

parallel –n. a way in which things are similar

petition¹¹ –n. a formal written request made to an official person or organization

persecution –n. to treat someone cruelly or unfairly especially because of race, religion or political beliefs

tarmac –n. the area covered by pavement at an airport

1 allies   

联盟国，同盟者； 同盟国，同盟者( ally的名词复数 )； 支持者； 盟军

参考例句：

• The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。
• A number of the United States' allies had urged him not to take a hasty decision. 美国的一些盟友已力劝他不要急于作决定。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 refugee   

n.难民，流亡者

参考例句：

• The refugee was condemned to a life of wandering.这个难民注定要过流浪的生活。
• The refugee is suffering for want of food and medical supplies.难民苦于缺少食物和医药用品。

4 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

5 refugees   

n.避难者，难民( refugee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The UN has begun making airdrops of food to refugees. 联合国已开始向难民空投食物。
• They claimed they were political refugees and not economic migrants. 他们宣称自己是政治难民，不是经济移民。

6 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

9 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

10 humanity   

n.人类，[总称]人(性)，人道[pl.]人文学科

参考例句：

• Such an act is a disgrace to humanity.这种行为是人类的耻辱。
• We should treat animals with humanity.我们应该以仁慈之心对待动物。

11 petition   

n.请愿书，申请书，诉状；v.请愿，正式请求

参考例句：

• Thousands of citizens subscribed the petition.几千名公民在请愿书上签名。
• The number of signers of the petition for a new school snowballed.要求增设新学校而签名的人像滚雪球似的越来越多。

12 petitions   

（许多人签名的向当权者提出某种要求的）请愿书( petition的名词复数 )； 上诉状； 申诉书； 申请书

参考例句：

• Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. 我们屡次的请求，所得到的答复是屡次的伤害。
• Petitions bearing nearly a half-million signatures were sent to the White House. 有将近五十万人签名的请愿书被送到白宫。

13 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。