Burmese Asylee Project

The Burmese Asylee Project of LIRS helps individuals from Burma who have been granted asylum in the United States integrate into their new communities. The first phase of the project was started in 2001 when LIRS worked with the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to resettle approximately 900 Burmese asylees who had been living on the island of Guam. The second phase of the project is designed to facilitate successful integration. In 2003 the project will focus on the following priorities:

• Work with resettlement agencies to coordinate low-or no-cost group processing of green card applications and petitions for relatives still residing in Burma.
• Work with representatives from each of the Burmese ethic groups to strategize on community organization, advocacy and communication.
• Organize and conduct regional trainings to foster the development of Burmese mutual assistance associations (MAAs).
• Work with LIRS staff attorney to translate information on immigration rights and responsibilities.

Read More!
Check out these articles on LIRS's work with the Burmese asylum seekers:

• New Hope and New Life for Refugees from Burma — an April 2001 article by LIRS President Ralston Deffenbaugh.
• Project Helps Burmese Asylees Celebrate, Assimilate — a September 2002 article about the one-year anniversary of the Burmese asylees' arrival in the United States.
• More articles can be found in these back issues of LIRS's periodicals FYI and The Bulletin:
  FYI, May 2001 (page 3) • FYI, July 2001 (page 3) • Bulletin, Fall 2001 (page 2)
  (NOTE: These publications are stored online in PDF format. You must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed to view these files. If your do not have the Reader installed, you can download it free from the Adobe website.)

Page updated Februrary 12, 2003.