Somali Bantu (2004 - Present)
More than 300 Somali Bantu refugees have resettled in California.
“My daughter Binty sleeps under her sister’s bed. She was born in the refugee camp and for ten years she slept in a hole dug in the sand to keep cool in the heat. She misses her hole in the sand – she’s not comfortable in her soft bed. She doesn’t know this is not normal.” - Osman Muse Muganga
Please send any comments or questions about this photo essay to sandiego@theIRC.org

Somalia (1991 - Present)
More than 8,000 refugees from Somalia have resettled in California.
“I like to help my people… They don’t understand the language, the culture, they don’t even understand the rules of their kids’ school. I like to help refugee people because I know that it’s hard... I always tell them, ‘go to school, get a job.’” - Fadumo Ibrahim Adid

Iran (1983 - Present) More than 8,000 refugees from Iran have resettled in California.
“I was at the New York airport. I was looking down on the ground and I saw a quarter, then I started collecting pennies... In one of the pennies I saw ‘in God we trust.” I said, “You know what? I’ll make it.” “We have more diversity in Southern California than we have in the United Nations. In the United Nations you have the countries represented but in Southern California you have the countries represented plus the subcultures so we are much more representative of the world.” “The country has been generous, the people have been generous. This is home.”
- Zak Nouri

This project is made possible, in part, by a grant from the CALIFORNIA COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES as part of the Council's statewide California Stories Initiative. The COUNCIL is an independent non-profit organization and a state affiliate of the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES. For more information on the Council and the California Stories Initiative, visit www.californiastories.org.

Ethiopia (1982 - Present)
More than 6,000 refugees from Ethiopia have resettled in California.
“America is not only a land of freedom, it is a land of opportunity. A lot of people come for the opportunity. I came here for the freedom but I found that there is more opportunity than anywhere else in the world.” - Mesfin Yimer

Eastern Europe (1982 - Present)
More than 10,000 refugees from Eastern Europe have resettled in California.
“I was 18 years old…When I left it was a still a communist ruling government… not for religions. My parents were persecuted for their faith and their parents were even killed for their faith…(I) worked nighttime as a janitor and daytime as a carpet cleaner. I think I have a entrepreneur mind. That’s what America is all about, to create something.” - Andy Kovacs, refugee from Hungary

Afghanistan (1982 - Present)
Approximately 5,000 Afghan refugees have resettled in California.
“When the Taliban came, nothing for women, everything was closed... If they saw the women’s feet, they hit with their rifle. If someone has a bird singing, they would come to their house and hit them. If they see you looking out the window, they shoot you.” - Nadea Azim

Former Soviet Union (1979 - Present)
More than 85,000 refugees from the former Soviet Union have resettled in California.
“I witnessed a couple of times when they would pull Armenians off the bus and beat them up. For two months I couldn’t put my foot out of the house, I was really scared… Then the first killing started…they killed a lot of Armenains there, many people died, women were raped, it was really horrible.”
“I’m glad that we finally are in the United States. I think it is the most beautiful country where people live and have freedom...If you are smart, if you want it and if you have luck, you might have everything.” - Marina and Gariy Oganov, refugees from Azerbaijan

Cambodia (1975 – Present)
Approximately 22,000 refugeees from Cambodia have resettled in California
“They (the Pol Pot regime) wanted the laborors… They look at your skin tone, they look at your reading glasses. ‘Your reading glasses are not regular farmer reading glasses, you must come from white collar people.’ So, wearing eyeglasses, you got killed.” “Everything we’ve earned until now is sweat and blood… We may be slower than anybody else, the way we progress, but everything we have is valuable… I’m proud of the family values that we have…we watch out for each other.” - Samarang and Sirak Suon lost 5 siblings and their parents before finally escaping to the United States.

Laos (1975 – Present)
Over 10,000 refugees from Laos have resettled in California.
“The communists took over and I escaped the country. I had to cross the river and walk to Thailand. We walked from night to the morning in the jungle…The communists shot (at) us… The United States is the best country to live but you have to work hard… Don’t give up, don’t give up.” - Vixay Nachampasak

Vietnam (1975 - Present)
Over 125,000 refugees from Vietnam have resettled in California.
“The communists took over my country and I was in jail for 9 years. They called it a re-education camp. We worked in the fields…no food... It was a terrible time. We never forget. I came to the U.S. in 1993... This country is an opportunity country. You can do whatever you want, you can be whatever you want but you should work hard and study hard.” - Diem Tran

(Dec 2005) In the fall of 1975 the IRC opened an office in San Diego to assist the thousands of refugees from Southeast Asia who were passing through the U.S. government resettlement center at nearby Camp Pendleton. Thirty years later the IRC has helped more than 20,000 refugees from 20-plus countries rebuild their lives in and around San Diego.  The following photo essay illustrates the struggles and successes of just a few of the refugees the IRC’s staff and volunteers in San Diego have had the privilege to know and assist.

This project is made possible, in part, by a grant from the CALIFORNIA COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES as part of the Council's statewide California Stories initiative. The COUNCIL is an independent non-profit organization and a state affiliiate of the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES. (Photo: The IRC)