The Patten Free Library in Bath will host an event on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. to inform attendees how they can help the asylum seekers who recently moved to Bath from the Portland Expo. (The Times Record file photo)
BATH – An unknown number of migrants seeking asylum moved to Bath after they were forced to leave the Portland Expo, which acted as a temporary emergency shelter, last month.
Nearly 450 asylum seekers – mostly from Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – stayed at the Expo after arriving in Portland in mid-June after fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries.
Bath Assistant City Manager Marc Meyers said he doesn’t know how many asylum seekers moved to Bath, as the city has had little involvement in assisting them. The city has not hired a cultural broker and hasn’t received any federal grants or additional funds to help the asylum seekers, according to Meyers.
The Patten Free Library in Bath will host an informational meeting Tuesday to discuss the challenges facing asylum seekers who moved to Bath and letting people know how they can help asylees feel welcome in their new community.
“This meeting is for people to ask questions, learn about asylum seekers, and figure out how we can help them assimilate,” said Martha Stein, executive director of Hope Acts, a Portland-based nonprofit that provides transitional housing for asylum seekers.
The meeting, to be led by Stein and Carol Kalajainen, co-founder of the Midcoast New Mainers Support Group, comes one month after Brunswick hired a cultural broker to help the asylum seekers who moved to Brunswick adjust to their new home. As of last month, roughly 40 people had relocated to Brunswick after leaving the Expo, and that number is expected to climb.
“This group had a really difficult journey and spent all that time in the Expo, so they need to kind of recover from that,” said Stein. “Fortunately, there is a really strong support network in Bath.”
Asylum seekers primarily need transportation and language translators who speak French and Portuguese, according to Leslie Mortimer, adult services manager at the Patten Free Library.
“At this point, it’s volunteer-driven,” said Meyers. “Bath is a welcoming community, and I’m sure people will help them through the challenges they face as they move into a new community.”
Mortimer said she believes this meeting will be helpful both to those ready and willing to welcome the asylum seekers in their community and to those with reservations.
“The majority of people are reacting to this in a positive way,” said Mortimer. “People are very excited and want to help.”
Stein was unable to release information regarding the number of families who moved to Bath, whether those families have children, and where they’re being housed.
No asylum seekers are expected to attend the first meeting, but there will be two events following the initial informational meeting, one of which will be a panel discussion with multiple asylum seekers. The dates of the next two meetings have not been announced yet.
Tuesday’s meeting is from 6-7:30 p.m. in the library’s Community Room.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
