The Chin Community of Indiana (CCI) has noticed that new Chin refugee arrivals have significantly declined in the past 24 months. There have been months without any new known arrivals.
Even though CCI is not providing any refugee resettlement services, it has been a well-known fact that Chin families who have been expecting their family’s arrivals to the US have almost lost their hope. Speaking to a Chin Church Leader in Indianapolis, he said, “There were over twenty new families who arrived and joined our Church in 2015, eleven families in 2016, and no new family in 2017.”
Many Chin refugees have relocated to Indianapolis and now consider it their new home. They have worked hard to integrate into their new culture and adapt to different standards of living. It is a documented fact that the Chin population is over fifteen thousand strong. Many have recently become naturalized citizens and now call themselves American citizens.
The Chin Center has been working with Chin families by helping them find employment, providing social and human services, and guiding them on how to access local community resources. Refugee resettlement agencies do not provide services to the refugees who have been here more than 7 months.
Many Chins have been working second and third shifts and weekends in factories and warehouses, only earning an average of $8 to $10 dollars per hour. Many have been employed through local employment agencies which would not provide them with needed health insurance.
