Today is International Human Rights Day. It marks the 61st anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on December 10, 1948. The declaration recognizes that all people – including you – possess certain absolute human rights and that we all must protect those rights. Every nation in the world has since accepted its principles of justice and equality for each of us. Unfortunately, fifty Burmese Karen refugee families in Pittsburgh feel that those rights have eluded them.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is bordered by Bangladesh, India, China, Thailand, and Laos in Southeast Asia. The country has suffered ethnic and political conflicts for centuries. A military junta has ruled the country since 1962 and is recognized as one of the most oppressive and violent in the world.
The Karen people, in conflict with various Burmese governments since 1949, are targets of the current regime’s ethnic cleansing activities. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recognizes the Karen as refugees and provides as much aid as possible. Tens of thousands of Karen moved from their homes in the Burmese jungle to UN refugee camps in Thailand. After languishing there for years, they began seeking asylum in the US through various private relief agencies, under the guidance of the US State Department. Fifty of those families now live in Pittsburgh. They are legal immigrants, but it has not been the experience they had expected.
Fourteen Karen men, and twenty-one Americans, work for W & K Steel, a fabricating plant on Antisbury Street in Rankin. They claim several violations of internationally recognized human rights, as well as violations of state and federal laws. Health hazards at the plant include exposure to hazardous waste, improper ventilation of toxic fumes, and lack of heat.
There are also numerous safety hazards. The roof leaks, causing puddles of standing stagnant water. The water causes safety hazards including severe electrical shocks to the workers who weld and use electrical hand tools in their jobs, as well as a slip-and-fall hazard. Frayed extension cords with exposed bare wires lie in the puddles. Malfunctioning welding machines and exposed wires also cause electrical shocks to the workers. The heavy machinery has no guards to protect against severing fingers and hands. Workers are not properly trained in health and safety procedures and there is no hazard communication program in place at all for any of the employees.
All of these conditions violate Pennsylvania and US occupational health and safety regulations, but the workers are too afraid of losing their jobs to file formal complaints with the proper government agencies.
According to Tim Hand and Aung Oo, two of the employees, the Karen workers are paid significantly less than what the Americans earn for the same jobs. Employees do not receive the prevailing wage or overtime pay when required by law. The management often requires mandatory overtime hours without advance notice. They feel that the managers’ disparaging remarks to and about the Karen workers regarding their ethnicity constitutes harassment.
Hand and Oo brought these concerns to the company management team, Edward Wilhelm, Celeste Wilhelm, Walter Kuhns, and Scott Eicher. The management ignored them. They are now on strike because of these conditions. They are not represented by a labor union. Edward Wilhelm, W & K CEO, did not return my call, in which I left a message seeking his comments on the situation.
The families’ relocation to Pittsburgh was arranged and hosted by Catholic Charities and the Jewish Family and Children’s Service. They feel that they’ve been abandoned on that front, too. While both agencies have extensive track records in refugee resettlement, the programs just aren’t working this time. The Karen feel that they need more substantial help, for a longer time period, than the agencies provide. This is not the typical refugee situation. The Karen people have little or no formal education, even in their own language. It’s especially difficult to learn English. They face much greater hurdles in adapting to middle-class urban American life than other recent refugees from more developed areas of the world. They need more help in learning to navigate in an urban society.
The Three Rivers Coalition for Justice, a loose-knit group of organizations, is working on behalf of the Karen. Their specific complaints were detailed in a recent Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article.
Church World Service operates refugee resettlement programs in 27 U.S. cities, including Minneapolis-St. Paul, Dallas, Omaha, Atlanta, and Indianapolis. Hler Paw, a Karen refugee who speaks excellent English and serves as a translator for his neighbors, keeps in touch with Karen friends that he met in the refugee camp in Thailand. His friends have settled in some of those locations with the help of Church World Service and are thriving. They’re very pleased with the reception from the communities and the services from their hosts.
Catholic Charities managers did not return my calls, but it appears that their standard operating procedures are inadequate for this situation. I know that all social service agencies face limitless need with minimal funds. Every day, they must make the impossible choice between offering significant help to a few people or only a little help to many people. But If resettlement can work smoothly elsewhere, surely it can improve here. Catholic Charities must find a more creative approach to provide the services that their clients need.
All US resettlement organizations work with Refugee Council USA on common issues. The council is a coalition of U.S. non-governmental organizations focused on refugee protection. The agency provides advocacy on issues affecting the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, displaced persons, victims of trafficking, and victims of torture in the United States and across the world. Perhaps they can help in this case.
So, on International Human Rights Day, let’s all do what we can to promote human rights in our own city. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights protects all of us. In 1945, anti-Nazi theologian Martin Niemoller wrote, "In Germany, the Nazis came for the Communists, and I did not speak up because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak up because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak up because I am a Protestant. And then they came for me. And by that time there was no one left to speak up."
You can speak up. Read the declaration. Make a commitment to live by its principles in your personal and professional affairs. Sign the declaration. Add your name to the list of the 52,802 others who have signed it, including me. Contact your legislators and insist that your government abide by these national and international principles.
If you have any connection to W & K Steel or Catholic Charities, ask them to honor their duties, respect human rights, take these complaints seriously, and correct the problems.
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Honestly, the best results here that I've seen are when these people seek economic friendly jobs that will always be available like, electrical hand tools, or a dairy farm. http://toolsandoutdoor.com
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