Beyond Borders: They’ve come from so far

The climate is changing, political systems are pivoting, and people are forced to move because of war, conflicts, and unsustainable environments. There are over an estimated 65.3 million forcibly displaced people in the world; with an estimated 34,000 being displaced every day, the situation is only getting worse. The majority of displaced people are being hosted outside of the western world, with only under 20 percent being hosted in Europe and the United States combined. When one considers that there are 7.3 billion people in the world, 65 million is under one percent of the world’s population. Surely, we can help those who need it most and at the same time enrich our own cultures, workforce, and economies.

Anchorage is a welcoming city and has opened its doors to a new Americans, but who are they? On April 3, 2017, the Alaska Institute for Justice (AIJ) and the Alaska Sudan Medical Project (ASMP) will present Beyond Borders: An Immigrant Storytelling & Short Film Event at 5:30 at the Bear Tooth Theatrepub in Anchorage. Tickets are $15 and all proceeds will support immigration legal services in Alaska and health infrastructure for refugees in South Sudan. The event gives the community an opportunity to learn more about new neighbors from the immigrant and refugee community, and find the humanity that we all have in common. The evening’s program highlights the lives of immigrants and refugees and their experiences around the world, including those who now call Alaska home.

Beyond Borders is the third event of its kind but the first at the Bear Tooth. The Alaska Institute for Justice is a nonprofit focused on protecting the human rights of Alaskans. AIJ started the story telling series about a year and a half ago with the goal to give immigrants and refugees a space to tell their own stories, thus creating opportunities for information exchange and to deepen understanding of the dynamics that drive people from their homes to seek safety and opportunity. The event helps put real faces to news and statistics, because in the end everyone is a human being with the same inalienable rights. Beyond Borders is co-sponsored by the Alaska Sudan Medical Project, a nonprofit working to develop public health infrastructure in South Sudan. In addition, other human rights nonprofits will be present with informational tables. They include: ACLU, Catholic Social Services/Refugee, Alaska Literacy Project, Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Islamic Community Center of Anchorage, Welcoming Anchorage, and Alaska World Affairs Council.

First Lady of Anchorage, Mara Kimmel is one of the founders of AIJ, and in her capacity as First Lady has been a leader in the Welcoming Anchorage initiatives to partner with community organizations and individuals to bring about research and solid public policies to create awareness, opportunity, and a safe space for all Anchorage residents. She says it’s important to inform and educate in the understanding that immigrant rights are important, and the context of why they are important. Welcoming Anchorage has undertaken important research focused on the community to help provide context. The research shows that immigrants and refugees are a positive and resilient force with the capacity to help Alaska through its fiscal crisis. In 2014, foreign-born residents in Anchorage contributed $1.9 billion to the city’s Gross Domestic Product (a primary indicator measuring the health of an economy and representing the total dollar value of goods and services in a period of time). In addition, immigrants have $573 million in spending power, contributing $136 million to federal taxes, and $27 million to state and local taxes. These figures, in addition to immigrant and refugees’ higher than average education level and proclivity to be entrepreneurs is just what Alaska needs to weather the storm of declining revenues and stressed economic systems, as the First Lady puts it, “Especially in this economy, we need all hands on deck and everyone engaged in the economy.”

Beyond Borders will provide an opportunity for story tellers from Syria, Iraq, Somalia, and South Sudan to tell their own stories. Attendees to the event will have the opportunity to meet folks like Camilla Hussein who was born in Germany to a Syrian father and German mother. When her father completed his college degree, her parents decided to move back to Syria. There, she grew up with her father's family who were refugees from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. Camilla has lived in the United States for almost 30 years, 10 of them in Alaska. She has raised three daughters, and earned a degree in criminal justice and legal studies at UAA. She recently returned to UAA to earn a master’s degree in public administration. Her goal upon graduation is to advocate for immigrants who are victims of domestic violence. When asked about what brought here, she explained that she was in college in Germany where she met her American husband. Her family didn’t agree to the relationship, so the couple was forced to elope to escape the danger of a potential honor killing like she had seen happen in her home. She stated, “I feel compelled to tell my story to explain to anyone who wants to listen that discriminations happens everywhere, and people try to resettle, immigrate or are forced to flee their countries for a myriad of reasons. Some can decide to leave their countries, some are forced to flee…and all do it to better their lives, and the lives of their children. Some just want to stay alive.”

Monday’s program will intersperse storytelling with short films like People from Nowhere by Lior Sperandeo, which in under two minutes encapsulates the suffering and dire circumstances faces by Syrian refugees. The program also includes a beautifully-shot and interesting Swedish documentary, High Chaparral, directed by David Freid. “High Chaparral” is an American Western theme park in the middle of a Swedish forest that served as a temporary sanctuary for refugees. Following the stories and films, the program will culminate with a panel discussion.

Monday 4/3 5:30 pm

Run time: 2:30 h

GA $15