OPINION
Page 6 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
February 19, 2018
Volume 28 Number 4
February 19, 2018
ISSN: 1094-9453
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MY TURN
n Dmae Roberts
Advocate & activist
Som Nath Subedi
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O
ften on social media one can follow a organization as a case manager helping other
person’s life story without actually having immigrants and refugees until 2015. He is no longer
met them. A good example of this is Som a case manager, but he is still a volunteer advocate
Nath Subedi, who wrote a post on Facebook last and activist for the Bhutanese community in
year mentioning he had received negative Portland. He also is a volunteer delegate for Oregon
comments about his opinion piece in The Seattle in the Refugee Congress, a national lobbying and
Times that illustrated why America needs its activist group that has delegates in each state to
immigrant and refugee communities.
help advocate for their local
Som wrote about his experience as
communities.
a Nepali-speaking Bhutanese who
Som said he was inspired to write
was forcefully evicted from Bhutan
the opinion piece in The Seattle Times
more than 25 years ago, then made a
because “many people who grew up in
case in support of DACA (Deferred
America are surprised when they
Action for Childhood Arrivals), also
find out I’m a refugee.” Or that they
known as the DREAM Act. The act
had “refugees living alongside them
protects Dreamers, undocumented
in their communities.” So for his 10th
immigrants who were brought to the
anniversary of arriving in America
United States by their parents when
from a refugee camp, he told his life
Som Nath Subedi. (Photo/Tiago
they were children.
story as a way to urge people “to give
Som arrived in the U.S. with little Denczuk)
other refugee and immigrant
more than “$10 and a plastic bag” and rose to individuals and groups the same chance I had to
become a community organizer and vital member of integrate into America.”
Portland’s immigrant and refugee community. I
Though there were many positive comments, for a
recently interviewed Som and asked him about his short while there were negative derogatory
life in America.
comments, including a post from a commenter
Som said when he was a child, the King of called BeachBoy, who was “rankled” that “white,
Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, declared a straight males with good grades” would be passed
policy of “one nation, one people.” Despite over to bring in “M’boogie-batootie, a transgender
promoting Bhutan as “the last Shangri-La,” the illegal alien from Lower Armpitistan.”
king expelled more than one-sixth of the
There were other negative comments that were
Nepali-Bhutanese people, who simply wanted to later deleted, Som said. He mentioned that he’s
keep their language and culture, starting in 1991. used to rude and unhappy comments from previous
Som does not remember his exact age, but he knows opinion letters advocating for immigrants and
he was in elementary school when his family was refugees published in The Oregonian.
forced out of Bhutan with no time “to plan or to
“This never discouraged or dragged me down,” he
pack.” “Every Nepali-speaking Bhutanese person said. “It never kept me from writing my next opinion
had to leave immediately,” he said.
piece or agreeing to another interview. I always try
While growing into adulthood at a refugee camp to embrace what comes next. I work hard to address
in Nepal, Som became a refugee advocate for the the curiosity that underlies the comments left by
Nepali-speaking Bhutanese. “I fought to repatriate uninformed minds and hearts.”
myself and the other Bhutanese refugees back to
What does drag Som down, though, is the current
Bhutan. I organized protests, rallies, and sit-ins. I anti-immigrant and refugee policies of the Trump
also wrote articles to pressure Bhutan, India, and administration, which reduce the number of
Nepal to solve their problems.” But Som said all the refugees to America from 110,000 to 45,000 during
efforts failed.
the 2018 fiscal year. As Som continues to work with
When his family arrived in Portland in 2008 as Bhutanese,
Burmese,
Somali,
and
other
refugees, he found serious issues affecting the new-arrival refugee groups, he will also continue to
Bhutanese community, where basic living needs advocate for the Dreamers.
were not being met.
“America is the only home they know. They
“I remember forming a youth organization in are the future of this country. DACA protects
August of 2009 to mobilize the manpower and about a million Dreamers from being deported from
resources needed for the community,” Som said their jobs, colleges, friends, and families. They are
about the Group of Bhutanese Youth in Oregon.
part of the American story. They belong here,” he
After that experience, Som worked for a local said.
Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication.