Fort Wayne could see Burmese population rise sharply

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) -- The Fort Wayne area could see more than three times as many refugees arrive from the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar this year than last, the northeastern Indiana city's biggest influx since 2009.

Catholic Charities of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese has been approved to resettle as many as 170 refugees to Fort Wayne during the fiscal year that began in October, compared with the 54 who arrived in 2012. In 2009, 297 refugees arrived in the city, The Journal Gazette reported (http://bit.ly/11ktIgW ) Thursday.

Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited the city in September during a 17-day U.S. tour, speaking to a crowd of more than 5,000 people. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Allen County is home to about 3,900 Burmese.

The number of refugees headed to Fort Wayne is increasing because family-reunification refugees have been reinstated for fiscal 2013. U.S. authorities suspended those Burmese resettlements in 2008 because of a large number of fraudulent applications. Authorities have begun requiring DNA tests for applicants who claim to have immediate family in America.

"Most of the Burmese who are coming to this community are coming because of family," said Holly Chaille, director of Catherine Kasper Place, a local ministry that assists immigrants and refugees.

Other refugee categories include ethnic minorities and individuals needing protection.

Hundreds of thousands of Burmese refugees live in nine refugee camps in Thailand. Gradual democratic reforms in Myanmar are expected to draw many expatriates back eventually.

Suu Kyi told those who attended her speech in Fort Wayne that she would work so that someday they would be able to return to their homeland.

"I would appreciate and be very grateful if you could look back to your home country, which is Burma," she said.
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Information from: The Journal Gazette, http://www.journalgazette.net