The issues revolving around immigration have been in the fore of my awareness for several years, and it has intensified of late. I think of those seeking asylum from war torn Syria and Africa, political refugees escaping violence in Central America and Burma, economic refugees, evacuees who become refugees from natural disasters, such as from Puerto Rico, St. John and St. Thomas, in the Caribbean. It is estimated 2.9 million people became asylum seekers in 2017 - the biggest single-year rise in the history of the UN refugee agency, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. It estimates there are 44,500 refugees a day bringing the total number of refugees worldwide to 68,500,000. That is equivalent to all the people in the United Kingdom, the 21st most populous nation. The causes of this mass migration are many: global climate change, civil wars, thugocracies and oligarchs, ethnic strife, economic and class differentials.

The situation in the U.S. makes it worse, rather than remediating it. Political gain and hegemony is the ultimate causation of the difficulties we see in the U.S. today. It is well documented that immigrants, including illegal immigrants to the U.S., are less prone to commit crimes [1], pay more into the government than they receive in benefits [2], and achieve higher rates of graduation from high schools and colleges [3], compared to native born Americans. There are various things we can do to address the issue, such as, go to protest rallies and marches, write our national representatives and let them know our sentiments, send donations to refugee agencies, volunteer at various agencies, write letters to newspapers and blogs. We can also do things to help relieve the despair of those who have been displaced or immigrated. This may seem like a small step, but it can be very large to those who feel exiled.

On May 13th Shumon, Kanyu (Wes), Toni and I, met with the Rohingya of Myanmar (Burma) members of the Masjid As Salam (mosque) in Albany as a Truth and Reconciliation event. This was Buddhists to Muslims meeting in acknowledgement of the ethnic cleansing atrocities committed by the Burmese Buddhist majority against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar. We offered our sincerest apologies that Buddhist had been responsible for their
plight. Then we went on to offer our support to our Muslim brothers and sisters. During our meeting, there was no recrimination on their part. They shared that they do not blame Buddhists, per se, but do have animosity toward the Burmese Buddhists who do not follow Buddha's teachings.

Mostly we listened to their experiences as political refugees and asylum immigrants to the U.S. They recounted the family they left behind, families that went back to the 8th c. C.E. in Burma, their feelings of alienation with the land into which they were born, their hardships in resettlement camps, the anxiety they experienced starting a new life in a strange land, professions in which they were trained but cannot practice in the States, gratitude that they are safe and have been able to now contribute to their adopted land; there is not sufficient room here to describe it all. The important part was that we listened and gave witness to their struggles and hardships.

That was merely the first step. Getting to know one another person-to-person, as friends is the next step. I proposed a picnic with Rohingya from Masjid As Salam and Tendai Buddhist Institute sangha members. It is axiomatic, but none the less true, that it is much easier to hate another when you do not know the person. The Rohingya have every reason not to trust, or even to despise Buddhists, based upon the way they are treated in Burma. We must accept that as Buddhists we are responsible, at least in part, for their privations. The concept of interpenetration becomes the operative notion.

The picnic, (tentatively scheduled for the afternoon of August 4th) is an opportunity for us as Buddhists, as humans, to share and show our appreciation to individuals and families, who have gone through a harrowing experience, that they are valued as people. Not to show tolerance, but to demonstrate respect and gratitude, and just as important to have fun with each other. Toni, Kanyu, Shumon and I will coordinate the picnic and we will call upon others to volunteer in assisting us in making this a day of joy and sharing from the greatest of Kokoro (heart=mind=spirit - the three qualities in one entity). Assist us, if you can, and join us, in welcoming our Rohingya neighbors into our community, and the broader community of people of faith.

Love and Gassho ..... Monshin

[1] http://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Immigration-and-Public-Safety.pdf
[2] https://www.cato.org/publications/economic-development-bulletin/poor-immigrants-use-public-benefits-lower-rate-poor
[3] https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/college-educated-immigrants-united-states/