Human Rights First

Refugee Voices: From Persecution to Freedom

As victims of violence and persecution, refugees come to the United States to seek safety. But all too often they arrive traumatized, without knowledge of the U.S. Legal system including the asylum process.Check out inspiring stories of refugees who received asylum in the United States with our help. Their lived experiences–of persecution, survival, and building a new life–inform our advocacy for better refugee protection. Find out why.


Refugee Voices: Ana Patricia Centeno
Ana Patricia is a human rights activist from Honduras. She fled to the United States after she was persecuted for being gay and for her work to protect the rights of women and the LGBT community.
Refugee Voices: Abdalmageed Haroun
Abdalmageed is a human rights activist from Sudan who was abducted, tortured, and detained for months for his work to promote women's rights and the rights of internally displaced people, among others. He fled to the United States after significant international attention from the U.S. government and the human rights community forced the Sudanese government to release him.
Refugee Voices: Parvaneh Vahidmanesh
Parvaneh is a human rights activist from Iran who was targeted for her work to promote freedom in her country and for helping write a book about Israel--a crime in Iran that is punishable by death.
Refugee Voices: "CJ" from Peru
CJ fled from Peru and came to the United States because he was targeted for being gay. CJ had no knowledge of the U.S. Legal system and he did not know that persecution for being gay is a qualification for asylum. As a result, he missed the one-year asylum filing deadline. With our and his pro bono attorney's help, CJ was granted asylum based on an exception to the deadline.
Refugee Voices: Kani Xulam from Kurdistan
Kani is a Kurdish activist from Turkey. He came to the United States to advocate for Kurdish rights and has helped many other Kurds gain asylum in the United States. Because his profile as an advocate became prominent, he, too, became a target of the Turkish government. As a result, he was forced to seek asylum in the United States.
Refugee Voices: Awoke from Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, Awoke owned an internet café that was used by the community to access opposition websites censored by the government. As a result, the government raided his café and detained and tortured him. After he was released, he immediately came to the United States to seek safety.
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