Orange County effort to aid Syrian refugees transcends ethnic lines

A group of students from Fountain Valley High School in Orange County hold signs for #Walk4Refugees, a walkathon to benefit Syrians fleeing civil war.

Staff Writer

Oct. 18, 2015 8:01 PM PT

Shortly before 8 a.m. Sunday, a line of dusty vans and trucks pulled up to the parking lot at Fountain Valley’s Mile Square Park to drop off their eager passengers.

They included some Arab grandparents, young Asian mothers pushing baby strollers, Latino churchgoers and a steady stream of Vietnamese Americans. They greeted one another in nearly 10 languages.

They were all there to participate in #Walk4Refugees, a four-mile walkathon whose aim was to raise money and attention for the hundreds of thousands of people desperately fleeing war-torn Syria. Many have paid traffickers to get to Europe or have died on the open sea as they sought refuge elsewhere.

“If we don’t shine a light on this horrific humanitarian crisis, how will all these families find help?” said co-organizer Rida Hamida, president of the Arab American Chamber of California. She stood alongside volunteers who nodded their heads in agreement when she said, “This is about people — not politics. Everyone here has hope that our movement will raise awareness, especially locally.”

Fellow organizer Jonathan Bao Huynh, who heads the Asian Pacific Cultural Foundation, jumped on the stage, shouting out to community leaders and social service groups who united for Sunday’s cause, which drew about 1,000 participants.

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Huynh and Hamida shared stories of how the escape of Syrian refugees has drawn the attention of the Vietnamese community — their plight mirrors the journey that Southeast Asian refugees took 40 years ago at the end of the Vietnam War.

“Whatever happens to one of us happens to all of us,” Hamida added. “We are in solidarity.”

Msgr. Tuan Joseph Pham, who fled Vietnam at 13 during the massive exodus of “boat people” in the late ‘70s, said it worries him whenever he hears about first-world nations refusing to welcome the needy. The refugee crisis has exposed division among European Union members. Among countries that are opening their borders, Germany has agreed to take 800,000 Syrians, and France and Britain have each pledged to accept 20,000.

The U.S. is working to expand its commitment to offer asylum to Syrians, pledging to take in at least 10,000 in the next 12 months.

“I think back to when the pope visited the U.S. just weeks ago and he told us, ‘Humans should not be slaves to finance and the economy,’” Pham said. “Truly, we need to be more caring of refugees because refugees contribute to our economies.”

In recent days, after sermons at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Fountain Valley, Pham urged parishioners to join the walkathon. Rosemary McGovern and her husband, Lee Monismith, heard him and signed up.

“Until our parish adopts a Syrian family, this is what we can do,” McGovern, 67, said. “We cannot follow the tragedies that we read about and do nothing. This should prevail on governments to step up and take in more refugees who have nowhere else to turn.”

U.S. agencies have resettled nearly 1,500 Syrians since the conflict began more than four years ago.

Supporters described Sunday’s event as “blended cooperation between cultural groups that understand what it means to have shared history and shared goals.” Last year, in trying to win official recognition as a tourist destination for Little Arabia in Anaheim, Hamida first reached out to Vietnamese leaders in Westminster, wanting to include Little Saigon in a marketing plan for a visitors guide to the area.

Later, the groups partnered with others to organize a celebration of World Refugee Day.

“It’s inevitable that we work together,” said Anisa Abeytia, California director for the Syrian American Council. “We are meant to combine forces and we should tell society, ‘They’re using napalm in Syria. Didn’t you see the nightmare destruction in Vietnam or Laos when they used napalm before?’ When are we going to say stop? It’s not OK to kill civilians so dictators can stay in power.”

Misa Sbini, who was born in Syria but immigrated to Orange County more than a decade ago, said she is fearful for her family left behind, including her parents, her brothers and sisters, and their sons and daughters. Two of her nephews finally arrived in Germany, after a tortuous trek through Turkey, Greece, Albania and Macedonia.

“My first thought is always safety,” she said, adding that her heart is “touched at this event. To see different nationalities, different religions, different men and women caring about one people, I am grateful.”

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