Rohingya Find New Life in Milwaukee

With a black apron on and flour over his hands, Amir Mohammad Ali begins his day by making roti. Roti is a common bread across most of South and Southeast Asia. The recipe is simple, but the process can be tough. It can include long hours of work to make in mass.

Ali picked up the skill after he fled Myanmar and traveled to Malaysia, where he stayed for years before relocating to Milwaukee. Ali describes Malaysia as a place of difficulty. He was lucky enough to find work at restaurants across the city of Kuala Lumpur.

“In Malaysia it’s hard,” said Amir Mohammad Ali. “You can’t get a real job. My kids couldn’t go to school. It was challenging.”

Ali moved to Milwaukee in the summer of 2013 with his wife and two children. Milwaukee holds North America’s largest population of Rohingya refugees. Around 4,000 have been relocated to the city, with the majority residing on the south side. Ninety percent of them stop in Malaysia before making the trip. They stay under the United Nations, but are barred from obtaining official documentation and remain in a stateless position. This means that they are unable to legally enter the workforce or enroll their kids into school, making conditions dire. Those that are lucky, are eventually able to move. 

Most Rohingya came to America between 2010 and 2023, according to a report by the U.S. Department of State. There has been a recent uptick due to President Joe Biden’s calls to raise the number of refugees admitted to 125,000.

Over the past two decades, the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR) reports that over 90% of the Rohingya population have either been displaced or killed. Their population has been scattered across the globe.

One million have fled to Bangladesh, 558,000 arrived to Saudi Arabia, 150,000 are in Malaysia and the United States holds 12,000. The process to leave can be tragic.

“I’m a Muslim and Malaysia is a Muslim country,” said Karin Shafie, another refugee who arrived in 2017. “We still miss the country but here money is easier. In Burma they told me I wasn’t Burmese. In Malaysia they told me I wasn’t Malaysian. I miss it , but where do I go?”

The process to resettle can be long and rigorous.  According to the Burmese Rohingya center (BRCW), the average wait time for a Rohingya to enter the U.S. is 10 years.

“There are hours and hours of interviews,” said Anuwar Mohamed Kasim. “They look at the family you have, the type of medical history you have, they look at everything. This is on top of everything that I’ve been through. Many travel through makeshift boats, which leak and are dangerous. Borders are tough and many leave not knowing what will happen next.”

Anuwar Mohamed Kasim is a one of the founders of the BRCW. He first started the organization with the help of Andrew Trumbull, who previously worked with Americorps.

“I met Anuwar at an after school program,”  said Trumbull. He was the first person I met that could hold a conversation in English.”

The Rohingya population that arrive in Milwaukee often come with little to no understanding of the language.

“I’d say about 90% of our issues revolve around them not understanding English,” said Trumbull.

“It’s difficult,” he said. The U.N. provides classes but many that arrive here are well into adulthood. A lot of them are well into their forties. At that point picking up a new language becomes difficult. The U.N. only offers classes for six months.”

Ali only knows a few sentences in English, enough to get by in day to day interactions, but not much more. He speaks primarily in the Rohingya language and Bahasa Malaysia.

“I often rely on my kids to understand,” said Ali. “That’s what a lot of us do.”

Ali was reluctant to talk about his life before Milwaukee and Malaysia; he only said that it was tough and did not elaborate further. Before arriving, he and many refugees describe their expectations as optimistic.

Now having lived in Milwaukee for a couple of years, Ali has managed to start a business running a food truck. He serves Malaysian and Indonesian cuisine with skills he picked up through his travels.

Ali likes his life in Milwaukee, as there are no obstacles toward work and schooling. He is on a path toward citizenship with full voting rights.

“ Here, I can send my kids to school in the morning,” he said.