News and Publications
Burma Refugee Family Network Annual Report 2016
BRFN released our Anuual Report for the previous year 2016 today. It describes the new changes and transitions BRFN has encountered in 2016, with the rapid growth of BRFN's programs, budgets, and organization. As a result, some new challenges and needs are recognized and plans to address such needs are addressed in the report. Year 2017 will be a time for BRFN to adjust and accommodate for the transitions, while building a foundation for further growth and sustainability of BRFN as a agency with best practices that continue to assist the most vulnerable communities of refugees and asylees as well as immigrants. Read the full report.
Oakland Woman Helps Refugees Navigate Life in America
Dozens of immigrants from Burma gather each weekend at Karen Christian Fellowship Church in Oakland to teach their children their native language so they don’t forget their culture as they build new lives in America. Kwee Say started the classes, and the families are grateful: she is one of only a handful of Bay Area translators who are fluent in their native tongue, a little-known language named Karen.
Financial troubles could force Burmese Advocacy to shut its doors
A local organization in Fort Wayne, Indiana was in desperate need of funds or risk closing its doors to refugees from Burma since 1990s. Fort Wayne has the largest population of refugees from Burma in the United States.
Flickers of Progress - Flickers of Hope: Moving from Crisis to Community Development
With Secretary of State Clinton’s recent historic visit to Burma in 2011, there appears to be much hope for the future of the people who live in Burma. President Obama called it “flickers of progress.” Meanwhile, refugees who have fled Burma from decades of oppression to live with hope of a better life in Oakland, California, are still facing the risk of becoming a permanent, poverty-stricken underclass.
From Crisis to Community Development: Needs and Assets of Oakland's Refugees from Burma
BRFN released a report highlighting the hardships refugees from Burma face in Oakland. The report, "From Crisis to Community Development: Needs and Assets of Oakland's Refugees from Burma", clearly describes challenges refugees from Burma face adjusting to life in the United States during a recession. The report's recommendations include an extension of the federal Refugee Cash Assistance Program, which currently only provides support to refugees for eight months after their arrival in the U.S. It also calls for direct support for refugee community organizations helping their own communities, the funding and training of interpreters in ethnic languages, and increased provision of adult ESL classes, particularly classes appropriate for learners with low levels of formal schooling. Read the full report.
Oakland Digital hosts first meeting between Burmese Community & White House AAPI Chair
The first meeting between the Burma Community in the Bay Area and Daphne Kwok, Chair of President Barack Obama's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders. BRFN and other community members and organizations had the opportunity to share the pressing issues that the refugee communities from Burma are facing and advocate for better policies to address these issues.
In the past four years, 65,000 Burmese refugees have resettled
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Countries around the world are continuing to offer new homes to Burmese refugees, most of whom are war refugees. A total of 65,000 Burmese refugees living in nine border-based refugee camps have resettled in the past four years, the Thai- Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) said in a recent report.
Needs Assessment of Refugee Communities from Bhutan and Burma
Report by SEARAC. The assessment was conducted from February to August 2010.
USCRI Healthy Refugee Toolkit in Karen, Burmese, and English languages
Information about domestic violence, health care, patient rights and responsibilities, mental health, child development, women’s health, and more. All available in Karen, Burmese, and English languages.
Still Seeking Refuge
The East Bay's new Burmese immigrants left their homes in Thai refugee camps only to find themselves in an even tougher spot— inner-city Oakland amidst a punishing recession that threatens the assistance they depend upon.
From Burma to New York
Multi-media report documenting the lives of Burmese refugees coming to New York City.
Refugees Preserve Culture Through Music : NPR
After coming to the U.S., many Burmese refugees try to preserve their culture and music with traditional instruments and dance. Most of these musicians have not seen their homeland in 20 years, while the younger ones were born in the camps, citizens of no country.