Classes aid men new to the U.S.

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CAPITAL REGION — Artan Serjanej understands how difficult it can be for new immigrants to navigate the thicket of unfamiliar laws they encounter when they move to America.

Now 43, Serjanej fled the Eastern European country of Albania as a young man, arriving in the United States in 1990. He earned his GED, attended law school and is now an immigration attorney at Tulley Rinckey PLLC in Albany.

Serjanej is leading a series of workshops to help male immigrants understand laws regarding domestic violence, child abuse and animal abuse. He has already held two workshops, one for male Congolese refugees living in the Capital Region and another for Arabic-speaking Iraqi male refugees, and more are scheduled for later this summer.

The workshops are part of a new program sponsored by the Albany field office of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, which educates immigrants about their legal rights and obligations in the United States. Future workshop topics include how to handle encounters with law enforcement and how to recognize and report discrimination in housing and job hiring. Workshops for women will also be offered; by the end of the summer, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants will have offered workshops for Burmese, Congolese, Iraqi and Afghan clients of both sexes.

The new program, called Legal Rights and Responsibilities in the United States, began two months ago. The workshops have been organized with help from local community groups, such as the Capital Region chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union and Equinox Inc. Last month, Melanie Trimble, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, and Serjanej conducted basic civil liberties training with the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants staff.

Refugees and immigrants often ask for advice on how to deal with law enforcement, said Una Hardester, outreach coordinator for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, which aids refugees who are taken in by the United Nations and approved for resettlement by the U.S. by the Department of Homeland Security. “Many of our clients come from countries where they were fleeing from law enforcement,” she said. “They need to understand what their rights are in this country. We set people’s minds at ease. We tell them that the police can’t break into their homes in the middle of the night.”

Immigrants often experience discrimination, Hardester said. The workshops will help them recognize discrimination and take action, she said.

“We’re trying to educate and empower them,” she said. “Many complain that they are turned away for housing and jobs.”

The workshops on discrimination will involve interactive presentations and role-playing.

In March, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants moved to a larger office at 991 Broadway, and it can now offer more educational workshops for immigrants and refugees, Hardester said. “Previously we had a very small office,” she said.

Workshops will be held throughout the summer.

Serjanej said he draws upon his experience as a refugee when talking to the men in his domestic violence workshops. He said these men are receptive to his message — “They appreciate the fact that someone is showing them the way” — even though his message isn’t always an easy one for people to digest, he said.

“I’m trying to change their idea of what it means to be a man,” he said. “These people are coming from a very patriarchal society. The man of the house is the man of the house.”

Serjanej said he understands these attitudes and why the men have them.

“Albania is a very patriarchal society,” he said. “When I was growing up, once in a while my dad would get physically violent with me. We didn’t have a Department of Social Services. Women had no way to complain [about abuse], and it was socially unacceptable for them to do so.”

He said one of the things he tells the men who attend his workshops is that even if their wives do not complain to the police, other people might.

“Even if the wife is silent, outsiders can call the police,” he said.

“I tell them that if you get upset, you cannot use your hands,” Serjanej continued. “I tell them that you can only talk and that you should talk in a quiet voice. A real man doesn’t have to get physical. I try to convey that they can use their mouth and voice and be respected in this country by all.

“I don’t want people to end up in trouble for something they think is acceptable,” he added. “The idea is to protect them so they don’t have any criminal records. They really need to understand how to live a clean life.”

In the workshops, Serjanej talks about the age of consent and rape laws and how it’s illegal to kick or otherwise abuse dogs and cats.

Assimilating into a new culture is very stressful, Serjanej said.

“Refugees get culture shock,” he said. “They have certain expectations, and when they reach this country, things are not as great as they thought they would be.”

But people are optimistic and eager to figure things out.

“The good news,” Serjanej said, “is that they are open to life in the United States.”

The next two Family Life and Law workshops will focus on domestic violence. A workshop at noon on July 12 will be geared toward Burmese men, and a workship at noon on July 16 will be for Burmese women. Workshops will be held at 991 Broadway in downtown Albany.

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comments

February 18, 2009 2:37 p.m. [ Suggest removal ]

Una ( no real name given ) says... This article grossly distorted both the nature of the classes in question, and USCRI's reasons for holding them. Artan Serjanej's similarly and surprisingly misleading comments were made without the knowledge of USCRI staff, and he is no longer a USCRI volunteer. The following is the text of the email I sent Sara prior to the publication of the article above: Dear Sarah, The USCRI Albany field office's March 2008 move to a new an much larger office at 991 Broadway has enabled its staff to hold more education events for refugee clients and conduct more outreach activities with local organizations. The Albany field office is now working with local organizations such as the New York Civil Liberties Union and Equinox Inc. to educate and empower refugees to understand how laws and law enforcement work, and how to defend their rights here in the United States. The program, which began only two months ago, is called Legal Rights and Responsibilities in the United States. It is being run by my colleague Erika Hague and me with significant help from Melanie Trimble of the New York Civil Liberties Union, Alicia Borns of Equinox Inc., and Artan Serjanej of Tully Rinckey PLLC. On June 6th, Melanie and Artan did a basic civil liberties training with almost the entire field office staff, and the ongoing Family Life and the Law workshops (they cover a lot more than domestic violence, so it would be incorrect to call them domestic violence prevention workshops) were an offshoot of that training. We've held workshops for French and English-speaking male refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Arabic-speaking Iraqi male refugees so far. By the end of the summer, we will have held Family Life and the Law workshops for Congolese, Burmese, Iraqi and Afghan clients of both sexes. We also intend to hold workshops to educate our clients on; 1) their civil rights and civil liberties, 2) how to recognize and fight discrimination in housing and employment, and 3) what to know about encountering law enforcement in the United States. The workshops dealing with discrimination will involve interactive presentations and role-playing, and should be quite lively and well-attended. We have not yet set a date for the first one, but I will email you when we do. It should be soon, and I think that would make a good story. The aim of the Legal Rights and Responsibilities program is to give our clients the knowledge and tools necessary to understand and defend their rights, as well as their legal obligations, in the United States. The dates for the next Family Life and the Law workshops that may be open to the press are July 12th and July 16th, both for refugees from Burma, and both beginning at noon at the USCRI office. For more information, don't hesitate to email or call me. kind regards, Una