His former lawyer anguishes over belief that the system fails refugee children. This may be the first Portland murder this year, but it sure isn’t the first crime involving refugees in Maine in recent years. A quick look at our archives (five minutes!) and I see several cases we reported on of crimes involving youthful refugees in Maine.
The “system” has had plenty of opportunities to learn from run-ins with refugees and crime. Surely you lawyers aren’t proposing special treatment for them?
Somali ‘youths’ randomly attacking and robbing people in Lewiston, ME
Maine: Somali accused of rape says birthdate is wrong, he is only a minor mommy says
Another diversity is strength alert from Portland, Maine
24 immigrant gang members arrested in Maine
Congolese refugee murdered in Portland, ME
Maine: Sudanese refugee pulls out gun and is killed by police
Violence against Sudanese refugees in Maine is growing
Maine: Somali youth sentenced to 8 years for raping woman; no prospect for rehabilitation says judge
Now to the latest, the murder of a Sudanese refugee in Portland. From Central Maine (hat tip: ‘Pungentpeppers’ crime researcher extraordinaire):
It’s America’s fault…
Richard Lobor’s family fled Sudan when he was a boy to escape the violence of civil war and the threat of execution.
But instead of finding safety in America, Lobor was shot in the head last month in the doorway of a Portland apartment, becoming the city’s only homicide victim this year.
Lobor, who was 23, was the oldest of the family’s six children and had been expected, in accordance with Sudanese tradition, to become the head of the family soon. Now his parents, Robert Lobor and Christina Marring, are asking themselves as they grieve how things went so wrong in a country they thought would lead their children to prosperity and a better future.
You can read the long discussion yourself of Lobor’s run-ins with the legal system. Then this from his former attorney Gina Yamartino. Honor the refugee experience she says.
The system failed him!
Although she ultimately relented and allowed him to be prosecuted as an adult, after Lobor insisted to her that’s what he wanted, she said she still feels “like the system failed him.”
“I don’t think we fully understand – and how could we? – what his experiences were before he got here. I truly believe he suffered from a fair bit of trauma, and coming here wasn’t going to fix it all,” Yamartino said. “I think we have to think long and hard about kids coming from different countries and understand what their experiences were and honor those experiences as best we can.”
Yamartino said that although Lobor’s criminal record looks bad on paper, that doesn’t tell the story of who he was.
SYSTEM INEXPERIENCED WITH REFUGEES! (Not!)
Thibeault [Christine Thibeault, the head of the juvenile division of the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office] said those who work in juvenile justice in Maine are experienced in how to deal with childhood trauma from abuse and neglect, but have little background in treating trauma of refugee children.
Guess they better get to work then because more are coming to Maine every day.
We have a huge archive on Maine, click here to learn about many more problems Mainers are having! See especially one of our top posts of all time—Maine as the welfare magnet.
Who brings refugees to Maine for the US State Department (and the UN):