Once in their new permanent residencies, the refugees of the the mid 90s war had a lot of adjusting to do. Many countries opened their doors to the helpless souls, but some did so begrudgingly. The refugees who escaped to Germany had a particularly hard time. Germany took in the most refugees from Bosnia out of any other country, about 320,000 people. Hundreds of thousands of people had to learn a new language and start a new life in a foreign place. This would have turned out fairly well for them, the German people were generally kind to the refugees; except in 1996 the German government decided it had spent enough money on the refugees, over $15 billion. The refugees were forced to leave, off to start from scratch once again. For those who had to move twice or even three times, life was even more difficult. The older you are the harder it is to learn a new language, adapt to a new culture, and find a new way of life. The more times it happened to someone, the more they had to pick up the pieces and start over. Most refugees had no way to return to Bosnia, and even if they could, there would be no homes and no jobs to welcome them. (Cable News Network, October 16, 1996)
So what does moving around to foreign countries, starting anew over and over again do to someone? Well in the case of refugees in America, it can be detrimental. A large percentage of the refugees from Bosnia are Muslim, and the attitude of Americans towards Muslims, as we all know, isn't very positive. 6.2 million Muslims live in America, about 93,000 of them are refugees. 350,000 Bosnians live in America, 131,000 of them are refugees. Some Muslims, and some Bosnians, living in America did not come from war torn countries. They only have to deal with discrimination, not the baggage of living through a hideous war. But, a large portion are refugees lived through horrid times and discrimination is piled on top of an already troublesome life. (Garrido, November 17, 2012)
A portion of the twice removed peoples believed they were coming to the land of the free. But was it really freedom? Many of the refugees suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), that, coupled with a country filled with stereotypes against Muslims, creates a daunting atmosphere. Living in a world where much or their family had died, their homes gone, and their moral weak; the refugees often had a hard time adjusting. The hate and bigotry thrown at them from their fellow Americans made them feel unwelcome, and often caused depression. This is still going on today.
One example of just how bad the stress and bigotry can affect a person, was the Utah Trolley square shooting. A young man who escaped the war and many speculate suffered from PTSD, went to a Utah mall and shot and killed 5 people, then committed suicide. For over a week, people gossiped that the shooting was a terrorist attack. Eight days after the shooting the FBI came out and confirmed that they had no reason to believe the shooting was due to terrorism. Although the shooter (Sulejman Talović), was never actually diagnosed with PTSD, mainly because he committed suicide and he had never been tested for it previous to the shooting, the evidence reasonably suggested he did. People just saw that he was a Muslim though. They labeled him as a terrorist from the beginning, with no proof at all, just because of his religion. The fact of the matter is that he most likely had a horrifying mental illness (thanks to the Bosnian war) and he was probably bullied by his peers and he just wanted it all to end. No one can commend his actions, murder is never the answer to anything, but if the government had provided him with proper help when he first immigrated, the whole incident might have been avoided. (KSL Team Coverage, February 13, 2007)
So what does moving around to foreign countries, starting anew over and over again do to someone? Well in the case of refugees in America, it can be detrimental. A large percentage of the refugees from Bosnia are Muslim, and the attitude of Americans towards Muslims, as we all know, isn't very positive. 6.2 million Muslims live in America, about 93,000 of them are refugees. 350,000 Bosnians live in America, 131,000 of them are refugees. Some Muslims, and some Bosnians, living in America did not come from war torn countries. They only have to deal with discrimination, not the baggage of living through a hideous war. But, a large portion are refugees lived through horrid times and discrimination is piled on top of an already troublesome life. (Garrido, November 17, 2012)
A portion of the twice removed peoples believed they were coming to the land of the free. But was it really freedom? Many of the refugees suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), that, coupled with a country filled with stereotypes against Muslims, creates a daunting atmosphere. Living in a world where much or their family had died, their homes gone, and their moral weak; the refugees often had a hard time adjusting. The hate and bigotry thrown at them from their fellow Americans made them feel unwelcome, and often caused depression. This is still going on today.
One example of just how bad the stress and bigotry can affect a person, was the Utah Trolley square shooting. A young man who escaped the war and many speculate suffered from PTSD, went to a Utah mall and shot and killed 5 people, then committed suicide. For over a week, people gossiped that the shooting was a terrorist attack. Eight days after the shooting the FBI came out and confirmed that they had no reason to believe the shooting was due to terrorism. Although the shooter (Sulejman Talović), was never actually diagnosed with PTSD, mainly because he committed suicide and he had never been tested for it previous to the shooting, the evidence reasonably suggested he did. People just saw that he was a Muslim though. They labeled him as a terrorist from the beginning, with no proof at all, just because of his religion. The fact of the matter is that he most likely had a horrifying mental illness (thanks to the Bosnian war) and he was probably bullied by his peers and he just wanted it all to end. No one can commend his actions, murder is never the answer to anything, but if the government had provided him with proper help when he first immigrated, the whole incident might have been avoided. (KSL Team Coverage, February 13, 2007)