Forced to start over again? Pandemic adds to challenges for refugees in the suburbs

Chan Maliku hasn't seen his wife and two children in almost a year.

He's waited for them to join him in starting a new life in the suburbs. But Maliku doesn't know when the U.S. government will take in refugees again and allow families like his to reunite.

"I don't know how long it's going to take," Maliku, 42, said.

The coronavirus has created new turmoil for refugees who have escaped war and persecution to resettle in the Chicago region. Refugees have lost their jobs in the economic crisis. Others face risks making a living in a pandemic.

"Most of the refugees are feeling stress because they are new in this country," said Maliku, who fled war-torn Sudan for Egypt in 2005 and finally arrived in the U.S. last year.

The pandemic also has prolonged an agonizing wait.

Roughly 90% of the refugees resettled through the Aurora and Carol Stream offices of World Relief arrive in the U.S. to join families and friends.

But U.S. admissions have ground to a halt, leaving plans for family reunions in doubt. The State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration has put arrivals on hold until at least May 15, but advocates worry a continued suspension will further undermine the nation's refugee resettlement program.

Before the pandemic, the Trump administration planned to cap the number of refugees accepted into the U.S. at 18,000 for fiscal 2020 - a historic low since the program was created with the Refugee Act of 1980.

Faith-based organizations contracted by the government to resettle refugees say the already rigorous system can safely restart through screenings overseas and in the U.S.

"We want the government to reopen resettlement, to continue to do so in a matter that is safe and conscious of the health needs of everyone involved, and yet not allow the disaster of this pandemic to stop our country from helping those who are in desperate need of help and who we've committed to assist this year," World Relief Regional Director Susan Sperry said.

World Relief has helped Maliku, who's originally from Abyei, a contested region between Sudan and South Sudan, settle in West Chicago. He came to the U.S. to prepare a new home and opportunity for his wife and children, 6 and 9, while they remained in Cairo, hoping that they could soon follow and that advocates could fast-track their cases.

"It's really hard, but I wish as soon as possible there will be reunification, and that will take place through World Relief," said Maliku, who works at a manufacturing warehouse.

Since October, World Relief's suburban offices have resettled 54 refugees - a sharp drop from the 652 people resettled in fiscal 2016.

Sperry can't say how many more will arrive this year. World Relief would have estimated 30 more by the end of September, but with resettlement paused due to COVID-19, Sperry can't make a good prediction.

"We're concerned that over time refugee camps and refugees overseas will be hit hard by this disease, and we're concerned about the situations refugees are in worldwide," Sperry said.

"And there's many ways that the U.S. is responding and addressing the plight of refugees around the world. Resettlement is one of them. But we firmly believe it's important to continue to keep that response on the table and keep that response active."

Amid those calls, advocates are helping refugees cope with the economic fallout. At least 175 refugees in the suburbs have lost their jobs, Sperry said.

World Relief is raising funds to provide emergency financial assistance to refugees and immigrants as volunteering moves online.

"We're looking for people willing to help children and youth with homework," Sperry said. "We're looking for people who can help with English tutoring, and then people who are willing to meet ideally once a week as friendship partners, just offering support, answering questions, building a relationship online."

Park Ridge-based Exodus World Service tries to ease the isolation through a pen pal program, "virtual visits" and phone calls with refugees, Senior Director Sue Horgan said.

One of those families spent 10 years in a refugee camp in Egypt after fleeing Sudan. Sammy Kouri's parents now fill vital roles in the crisis.

His father helps keep people fed as a meatpacking worker, and his mother has a job at a company that cleans hospital linens. She's mostly worried about their eight children.

"She just doesn't want this virus to catch them or anyone in the family," said Khouri, 18, translating her Arabic.

Exodus also is collecting donations of culturally appropriate food with the goal of delivering groceries to 75 refugee families in DuPage County and 50 others in Cook County every week.

Volunteers drop the care packs off at their doorstep, along with flyers in a family's own language to keep refugees informed of ever-evolving safety protocols.

"It's just another way to keep the relationships that we've built strong and connected with these families and to let them know that even though we can't be together physically, that we're thinking about them," Horgan said.

Volunteers, Horgan said, hear an overriding fear from refugees.

"Will they have to start over yet once again? Or will they be able to go back and pick up the pieces where they left?"

How you can help refugee families

<a href="https://worldreliefdupageaurora.org/covid-19-donations">World Relief</a> and <a href="https://exodusworldservice.org/">Exodus World Service</a> are collecting grocery and gift card donations for refugee families during the state's stay-at-home order. Here's a look at those efforts:

• Drop off groceries at an Exodus employee home office in Wheaton. A collection box is in the shed along the driveway of 1205 E. Hawthorne Blvd. (The shed is on Stoddard Avenue).

• Needed items include white rice, dried beans (kidney, navy, pinto, chickpeas, lentils), canned tomatoes/tomato sauce, canned peas, cooking oil, sugar, tea bags, garlic, onions, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, apples, oranges, bananas, diapers (sizes 3-6), toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning spray, scouring powder, laundry and dish soap, sanitary pads, shampoo, soap and toothpaste. Milk and eggs can be dropped off only from 10 a.m. to noon Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

• Another collection box is in the entryway of the Exodus office at 780 Busse Hwy. in Park Ridge.

• Gift cards for Aldi, Walmart, Uber or gas can be mailed to World Relief, 191 S. Gary Ave., Carol Stream, IL 60188.

• Hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, hand soap, cooking oil and flour can be dropped at the white donation drop box in the rear of the World Relief office in Carol Stream.