2013-09-16_packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

September 18, 2013 Item 6 . b . 3 Report on meeting with Karen Leadership Date: September 12, 2013 To: Roseville Human Rights Commission (HRC) Re: Background &Recommendation on Agenda Item # 6, b, iii: Report on September 6t" Meeting with Karen Leadership (KOM) for the September 18, 2013, Human Rights Commission Meeting Background: The Karen are refugees from Burma (Myanmar) who have been the largest population resettled in Minnesota over the past five years. These refugees are an indigenous ethnic minority that has been persecuted by the Burmese military junta for over 60 years. About 71200 Karen (pronounced Ka -REN) now live in St. Paul and its surround suburbs, making it the largest Karen community in the country. Over 63% of these refugees from Burma in Minnesota are under 25. The Roseville Human Rights Commission has a history of working with the Karen Community, many of whom live in Roseville, especially in SE Roseville along Larpenteur Avenue. In the spring of 2010 four Commissioners participated in a program welcoming them to our community. This program, organized by the Roseville Police Department, was the first in a series of events to provide a forum for these immigrants most of whom do not speak English and are recently- arrived from a culture alien to ours where government is seen as the Persecutor, not as a Protector. Late this spring the HRC Chair participated in another Forum on public and personal safety issues, also put together by the Community Relations Office of our Police Department. He told the over 100 assembled Karen We want you to know that our job is to protect your rights, to make sure the law is fair, and you are welcomed even if you are not yet an American citizen. (A copy of the relevant portion of his remarks is attached.) Last week HRC Chair Gary Grefenberg, Commissioner Wayne Groff, and City Staff Liaison Carolyn Curti meet with the Karen Leadership of the Karen Organization of Minnesota (KOM), a non - profit officed south of Larpenteur Avenue in St. Paul's North End. They met with KOM's Executive Director, Chong Vang, and one of his staff and the chair of last spring's Forum, to find out what are the issues and challenges currently facing the Karen, especially those living in Roseville. Attached is a summary of this meeting. We encourage you to review it, especially the last section Some Possible Items which the HRC and KOM Can Collaborate On, pages 2 -3. At this time there is no specific event or program to propose to the HRC. In effect the Commission has already included in its 2013 -2013 Work Plan the following objective: 7) Focus on ethnic minorities including new immigrants a. Organize a Karen Forum on a topic selected by the Karen Organization of America. Recommendation: We recommend the Commission continue to develop a collaborative relationship with the Karen Organization of Minnesota and the Karen Community. Therefore we are also