Help resettle Hmong refugees
0:01 AM 6/15/04

It's been almost a generation - nearly 30 years - since the first Hmong refugees from Southeast Asia arrived in Wisconsin. The last migration of Hmong families to the West begins later this month. Too bad we still can't do right by them. <

An estimated 3,300 Hmong refugees are expected to start arriving next month throughout Wisconsin. More than 30 families - about 200 people, more than half of them children - are preparing to move to the Madison area from a refugee camp in Thailand, their makeshift home for 10 years. <

The Hmong fought in Laos on behalf of the United States during the Vietnam War. After the United States pulled out, political persecution forced them to flee to Thailand, where most were warehoused in refugee camps for years until they could be resettled in the United States and other countries. <

These fighters and their families paid a high price for loyalty to the United States. Though we owe them our respect and gratitude, we have offered little else to arriving immigrants. This last resettlement promises to be no exception. <

Immigrants will soon arrive in cities around Wisconsin, bringing only what they can carry. The federal government will provide a piddling $400 stipend to each refugee. Some immigrants will be eligible for some additional cash help under the W-2 program for a while, along with food stamps and medical assistance. But they will depend on us to help them find homes, land jobs and adjust to a new world. <

This final group has one advantage: Unlike their relatives who arrived in Wisconsin years ago, this group will be greeted by an established Hmong community. About 46,000 Hmong already live in Wisconsin. Host families will try to help new arrivals adjust to a strange land, new language and different customs. <

The largest group, about 450 people, is expected to settle in and around Wausau, which already has a heavier concentration of Southeast Asian residents. The Wausau-area Refugee Welcome Project, with help from the local UW and technical college campuses, sets the pace as an example of how to welcome and assimilate these refugees. <

In Madison, Catholic Charities is under contract with the federal government to help supervise the Madison-area refugees' first days here. And United Refugee Services is preparing as best it can to follow up with limited resources. However, in contrast to Wausau, where community-minded residents are already warehousing donated household items for arriving families, Madison doesn't even have a place to store donated goods, says Arthur Upham, program developer. <

Similar problems face well-intended public and private agencies around Wisconsin. Wisconsin's Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold have pushed for sorely needed federal resettlement money, which was cut back after the Sept. 11 attacks and hasn't been restored. But the possibility of a federal windfall is a long shot - as is the idea of beefing up Wisconsin's cash-poor medical assistance and other aid programs. <

That leaves communities in charge. Resettling these refugees is an obligation but need not be a burden - especially if we pitch in to help. Learn more:to learn more about the Hmong refugee situation in Wisconsin, visit: www.ursw.org. Do something: If you want to send a donation to help resettle Hmong refugees in Dane County, contact United Refugee Services, 608-256-6400; Thaj Ying Lee, executive director, thajyinglee@tds.net; or Arthur Upham, program developer, agupham@tds.net. <