Saleh came to the United States from Myanmar. He is Rohingya---a stateless ethnic group who reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
Backdrop: Rohingya People in Rakhine State. By Foreign and Commonwealth Office - Flickr, OGL v1.0
The Rohingya identify themselves as indigenous to western Myanmar with a heritage that stretches over a millennium.
To the Myanmar government, however, the Rohingyas, or "Bangalis" as they refer to them, are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. In 1982 the Myanmar government denied citizenship to the Rohingya people under the Myanmar nationality law and banned them from receiving state education, applying for civil service jobs, or even moving about freely.
Backdrop: 2014 view of ruins in Narzi, former Rohingya neighborhod in Sittwe town destroyed and razed in the 2012 anti-Rohingya pogroms. By Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada - View of Ruins of Narzi - Rohingya Village Burned and Bulldozed in 2012 - Sittwe - Rakhaing (Arakan) State - Myanmar (Burma) - 01, CC BY-SA 2.0
Over the years, there have been skirmishes, military crackdowns, and a long history of discrimination and persecution against the Rohingyas by the Myanmar government. In 2013, the United Nations described the Rohingya people as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. They found evidence of increasing incitement of hatred and religious intolerance by "ultra-nationalist Buddhists" against Rohingyas while the Myanmar security forces conducted "summary executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and ill-treatment, and forced labour" against the community.
The violence escalated in 2017-18. In August 2017, two entire Rohingya cities and many villages were burnt down. Many Rohingya fled to Bangladesh. An estimated 625,000 Rohingya refugees were driven out of Myanmar and into Bangladesh to live in overcrowded refugee camps where they are not allowed to leave, or even go to the hospital.
Together with other young Rohingya men, Saleh fled his country by boat. They were on the boat 35 days---10 days without food or water. The young men were rescued and nurtured back to life by the government of Sri Lanka. But even in Sri Lanka, Rohingyas were not safe. Sri Lankan Buddhists, angry about Rohingya violence against Buddhist Monks in Myanmar, did not want the Rohingya Refugees in their country.
Saleh spent two years in a prison camp in Sri Lanka until he was able to find refuge in the United States.
Arriving in Tuscan, Arizona, Saleh had a hard time at first. It was difficult to find a job and learn English without transportation. His uncle was already living in Garden City, so Saleh joined him. He now works for Tyson and he is taking classes to prepare for US Citizenship. Saleh met his wife, Aysha, in Garden City and they now have two sons.
Saleh and Aysha love Garden City. Saleh’s dream is to buy a house and provide a good education for their children.