Nasir Zakaria in Chicago told me that more than three decades ago,
when he was only 14, he was kidnapped by militants targeting the
Rohingya in Burma. He never saw his parents again. Nasir eventually escaped to Bangladesh, made his way to Malaysia,
where he worked for 18 years in construction before he finally made it
to the United States with a green card in 2013. He learned English,
worked as a dishwasher in a hotel near Chicago, supported his wife and
three children, met others in the community, and helped to create the
Rohingya Center that I visited. Here is a picture of Nasir Zakaria with his son, Mohamed, in their
Chicago apartment. You can see the American flag in the background. He
is very proud of this Nation that he now calls home. The Rohingya Culture Center provides critical resources to more than
400 families in the Chicago area, one of the largest concentrations of
Rohingya refugees in America. More than three decades after Nasir first
escaped Burma, the Rohingya continue to be attacked and demonized. Let me close by saying that we met today with the Myanmar Ambassador.
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green card refugees