Commentary
Liberians in U.S. wait to learn their future status
By Michele Garnett McKenzie
The countdown is on for Liberians.
Nineteen years ago, the United States extended protection to Liberians in the United States who faced return to Liberia's brutal civil war. On March 31, that protection is set to expire.
Liberians here under protection known as deferred enforced departure, or DED, aren't ready to return en masse to Liberia. They've spent nearly two decades lawfully present in the United States without any path to permanent residence through our labyrinthine immigration system. Their roots in the United States have grown deeper every year as the mortgage payments are made, the careers advance, the small businesses prosper, and the kids -- who are U.S. citizens -- get older.
But a DED designation -- like immigration policy itself -- isn't really about the people affected and what makes them safe, free or happy. The question of deferred enforced departure, like all of immigration policy, is a complicated political tangle, where the real issues are the political and foreign policy effects of extending protection to Liberians.
Take a look at the situation in Liberia. In 2003 a peace agreement ended the most recent outbreak of brutal fighting throughout the country, creating a truth and reconciliation commission and resulting in the democratic election of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. But the transition to peace is neither quick nor easy.
Liberia is recovering from years of conflict characterized by the egregious violations of human rights that created the Liberian diaspora. From 1979 until 2003, the Liberian people survived a bloody coup, years of military rule and two civil wars. The atrocities were the result of complex historical and geopolitical factors.
The slave trade and U.S. efforts to return slaves to Africa, the abuse of the indigenous population by a ruling oligarchy, the looting of the country's natural resources by its own corrupt government and by foreign interests, and the ambitions of other African leaders all contributed to the conflict. The international community, including the United States, failed to take effective action to limit the bloodshed.
The violence finally ended in 2003, but the peace remains fragile. Accountability for human rights violations committed during the conflict remains elusive. Many of those responsible for the atrocities remain in public positions, and Liberia has neither the political will nor the legal infrastructure to hold people accountable.
A recent report by Dorsey & Whitney LLP gives insight into the state of Liberia today. Only 15 percent of Liberians are formally employed. As of 2006, over 76 percent of Liberians lived below the poverty line (less than a dollar a day) and 52 percent lived in extreme poverty (less than 50 cents per day). One in five Liberian children will not live past age 5.
The wars destroyed Liberia's infrastructure. Liberians cannot flush their toilets. There is no garbage removal or sewer system. Most Liberians do not have access to safe drinking water. There are 10 working streetlights in Monrovia, and kids gather under these after dark to study because there aren't lights in their homes.
With the Liberian economy in tatters, money from relatives living in the United States is a lifeline. Net remittances to Liberia, according to the Central Bank of Liberia, were $54.2 million in 2006, amounting to one-fifth of Liberia's income.
So is Liberia ready for the end of deferred enforced departure and the expulsion of thousands of Liberians from the United States later this month?
Not a chance.
And that brings us back to those Liberians who've lived under U.S. protection since 1991. The president's foreign policy power is about more than state-to-state relationships. It involves consideration of humanitarian issues and of how best to bring much-needed foreign aid to countries in need of assistance.
Good foreign policy is based on respect for the human rights -- really, the human dignity -- of those involved. Mass deportations to Liberia at the end of this month would signal that human rights aren't part of the foreign policy equation in the Obama administration. That's not a message to send today.
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Michele Garnett McKenzie is an attorney and director of advocacy for the Advocates for Human Rights, which describes its mission as "to implement international human rights standards in order to promote civil society and reinforce the rule of law."
Comments (8)
Love your story. Thanks for adding your voice to the many of voices advocating for Liberians in America. We came here in a legal way; we pay taxes and contribute immensely to society. Why not legally make up a part of the community so as to rip the fruit of labor. We are very hard working. Having the best education, job and life style are the aspirations every Liberian dream of, but it's crazy that we live in a country where we can accomplish those aspirations and we cannot. We buy work permit, work, pay taxes, pay our own way through colleges, but are unable to get a well paying job to live our dream. All because we are not green card holders and companies now a days don't want to take that risk. All we ask is, for us to become a part of your community and also be able to go home and visit our family.
It sounds to me like these Liberians are exactly the ones their country need the most: educated, ambitious, honest. Do they not love their homeland? Their country needs them.
It sounds to me like these Liberians are exactly the ones their country need the most: educated, ambitious, honest. Do they not love their homeland? Their country needs them.
It sounds to me like these Liberians are exactly the ones their country need the most: educated, ambitious, honest. Do they not love their homeland? Their country needs them.
Thanks for the article. Other refugees who came to the US got a path way to citizenship. Why Liberians have been denied? Even for educated Liberians who want to return, it is not an easy thing to do because you need sleeping place in Liberia, and you need a job. The number one employer in Liberia is the government and the requirement now depends on who you know or you are a member of the ruling party. Your education and experience may not necessarily get you a job in Liberia. Our patonage system is in full force. Otherwise, returning to Liberia as an educated Liberians, I will advise you not to do it now unless you have your own business in Liberia. I hope the US Congress can provide better solution for Liberians.
B C, We do love our homeland, but our homeland has been destroyed (not your fault) and we in America are working and funding developments and projects to better our homeland. We don't want to go home and be beggars. We want to work, built wealth and create opportunity for others back home. Don't you think its Nobel to help some one in need???
Is anyone concerned that the balance of power issues that were instrumental in starting the unrest will once again be a problem if a mass of well educated, upper middle class, Americanized Liberians return home?
Cllr. Garnett Mckenzie:
Thanks a million for the analytical presentation of the Liberians under immigration threat in the United States of America, a country and people with whom historically Liberians and Liberia have a lifeline. As Liberians, we are stressing out our hands for help. We pray that our tears will be wiped and our voices be heard so that our broken hearts be restored.
As Liberians, we wonder whether the American Dream can be interpreted in our favor so that the same green pasture laws that granted the rights to live freely in America to the Vietnamese, Koreans, Cubans, Polish,Jews and others will be granted to us by today's leaders of America.
Yes, "no where is like home", we Liberians would prefer to stay in Liberia, our home, but life has not be been restored to our country, the guns and the warlords are still there in power. Liberia has become moreof a country where one's qualifications and skills are not considered for employment.
Economic, political and social disparity is the order of the day as we speak
The Government of Liberia that is belived to be the government of national peace and reconciliation for re-building of the Liberian Nation is strongly and bitterly rejecting the implementation of the TRC recommendation for Liberia's safety and future. I can tell anyone at any time and anywhere that a refusal to implement the TRC recommendation is declaration of insecurity and hopeleness.
The nation of Liberian national anthem is seemed to be changing from the "The Glory Land of Liberty" to " Corruption is the game for power"
By Chief VAM
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