A growing number of Somali immigrants living in the western United States city of Seattle are facing homelessness due to rising rents, which creates other economic and refugee hardships. It's getting worse, activists told VOA.
Community activists say hundreds of Somalis have been left homeless over the past year and unable to pay their monthly rent. Some are lucky enough to live with relatives or friendly families. Some are placed in public shelters or live on the streets.
Hamdi Abdulle is director of African Community Housing and Development in Seattle, an organization that works to provide refugees with homes, education, jobs and food.
Many refugees from Somalia and other African countries face a difficult situation from the moment they arrive in the United States, she said.
"The reasons are clear: they came to this country empty-handed, the welfare they get from the government is not good enough, and rents are skyrocketing. All these factors combine to drive evictions. It's why you face it and end up homeless," Abdulle said.
Sahra Bashir Farah – better known to many as her Mama Shara – is the director of her service to her community of Somalis in Seattle.
"Whole cities have become very expensive when it comes to housing," she says. “For example, the rent for a family home that used to be $1,000 [monthly] is now $3,000. We Somalis are low income people. They cannot afford this exorbitant rent.
Farah said the situation has forced many Somali migrants to move to suburban areas such as Tukwila and Sea Tak where rents are cheaper. But living in the suburbs makes it difficult for them to get to work and cuts them off from the markets, mosques and community centers they know and rely on.
The majority of homeless Somalis found on the streets of Seattle are young.
A common misconception within the Somali community is that young people on the streets are rebellious, headstrong runaways or use drugs.
According to Abdulle, the truth is different.
"The reason is that when young people reach the age of 16 to 18 they leave their families thinking they can be independent. They face more economic challenges, leading them to homelessness.”
Other community members at risk of becoming homeless are those who entered the United States on diversity immigrant visas. Those visa holders are not eligible for public assistance and must wait years to qualify for federal benefits such as Medicaid.
The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program — commonly known as the Green Card Lottery — has set aside 55,000 green cards annually for immigrants around the world to promote diversity in the United States. It is a program approved by Congress. A designated fiscal year to allow time for processing applications.
Farah says the close-knit Somali community is trying to find housing as soon as possible for those who have lost their apartments or homes.
"We help each other," she says. “We look for alternative homes for the homeless, to provide temporary shelter if it is a family, instead of staying in public or spending [time] on the street.
Over the past three decades, hundreds of thousands of Somalis have emigrated to the United States to escape chronic conflict and poverty at home. rice field. Estimates of Somali immigrants in Seattle vary widely, from just a few thousand to her over 30,000.
Somalis share the challenges of poverty, insecurity, poor schooling and language barriers faced by many other African immigrants and refugees moving to the United States. .
But when it comes to housing, they are hit hardest because they live in Washington, one of the most expensive states in the United States. Home prices continue to rise in Washington State due to high demand, a shortage of homes, and local zoning laws that limit the number of people living in a home.
Mama Sahra's nonprofit receives millions of dollars in government grants for homelessness prevention and other community services. She says she wants to bring those who have been forced out of the city back to Seattle.
VOA's girlfriend Aline Barros contributed to this report.
