“Lost children” find refuge

This July 4, Aduei Riak – a refugee who fled Sudan as a small child – will become an American citizen. “Since 1995, more than 22,000 refugees from Sudan have arrived in the United States. The refugees must wait a year before they can apply for their green card for legal residency and five years before they can apply for citizenship. Immigration officials say Riak is among the first wave of the ”lost children of the Sudan” who are becoming U.S. citizens.”

The story is here: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Sudan-to-Citizen.html.

The plight of some of these Sudanese refugee children was made into a documentary film that was boradcast on public television in 2004. More information about the film, which provides wonderful insight into the process of adjusting to life in America as a refugee, can be found at
http://www.lostboysfilm.com/.

-jmc