Refugee family from Myanmar gets stranded in Erie

The family of Htoo Mae, none of whom speak English, was dropped off by bus at Erie International Airport in Millcreek Township early on Feb. 18. The refugee family from Myanmar was supposed to meet with officials from the International Institute later in the day. GREG WOHLFORD/

ERIE TIMES-NEWS

A refugee family traveling from Myanmar to Erie on Thursday got an early introduction to some of the headaches Americans experience when flying.

Erie International Airport employees were surprised when the family of seven arrived on a bus with nowhere to go at about 2 a.m.

Tom Rivers, a night custodian at the airport, knew there was a problem when he looked at their identification tags.

"I saw where they were from, and I thought, holy smokes," he said.

Airport staff assisted the family, who had no money and did not speak English.

Traveling from Myanmar, the family took several connecting flights. They finally arrived at the airport on a bus from Cleveland after their flight from Cleveland to Erie had been canceled.

But they would have to wait several more hours to move into their new Erie apartment.

Representatives of the International Institute of Erie, who were to meet the family, were never notified that the Continental Airlines flight had been canceled.

With nowhere to go, the family wandered around the airport barefoot, as is the custom inside homes in Myanmar.

"They were dead tired when they got off the bus," Rivers said.

A police officer and airport staff bought the exhausted family a gallon of milk and energy bars. The family members bundled up with blankets and slept on the floor before they were picked up later in the morning.

Names of the family members were not released by the institute.

The International Organization for Migration, which is not affiliated with the Erie institute, coordinates travel for refugees immigrating to the United States.

Airline officials usually contact the organization, which in turn calls the institute or other host groups when a flight delay or cancellation occurs, said International Institute Director John Flanagan.

As it turned out, the institute didn't know the family was here until the Erie airport, not the international organization, called at about 6:30 a.m.

"It was a broken line of communication," Flanagan said. "We usually do a pretty good job."

The institute provides resettlement services for 300 to 400 refugee families relocating to Erie County each year. The group assists refugees from all over the world, with Myanmar, Nepal and Iraq being the most common countries of origin.

The Myanmar family's home country, previously called Burma, is one of the poorest countries in Asia. A military government, often accused of egregious human-rights abuses, has controlled the nation since 1962.

With little knowledge of their new home, the family members will now rely on the institute to help them assimilate to life in America.

Before the institute came with a van to pick up the family, Continental Airlines paid the airport restaurant to prepare sausage biscuits for the newcomers.

A few of the children took the biscuits apart to see what was inside. They didn't seem to have the appetite for them, though.

"It's definitely not what they normally eat for breakfast," Rivers said.

Source :http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100219/NEWS02/302199961