Elkridge Man Brings Refugees to Howard County

Zo Tum Hmung, a human rights activist from Elkridge, has helped bring hundreds of refugees to Howard County.

For reasons similar to those of the pilgrims seeking religious refuge in America, Hmung says Chin people in Burma are persecuted by the Buddhist military regimes and become refugees for practicing Christianity.

Hmung was one of the first refugees from Burma to relocate in Howard County almost 10 years ago.

Since then, Hmung and other volunteers have secured jobs, apartments and schools for other families as they come from temporary homes in Malaysia. He estimates close to 1,000 Chin people have moved to the county since 2007, most of whom live near Savage.

Hmung works for the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Malaysia—a country housing more than 80,000 Burmese refugees, which is where he finds the families.

"I have been telling them that ... Howard County is one of the best counties in the United States," Hmung told Patch."I spread out the news about Howard County, so they came here."

He said Newsweek ranking the county as the third richest in the nation and Education Week ranking Maryland public schools best in the nation really convinced families of refugees to come.

According to Patti Caplan, spokeswoman for the Howard County Public School System, the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program for the county has expanded from 1,253 students five years ago to 2,250 this school year—an 80 percent increase.

To read about an award-winning program for the Burmese at Bollman Bridge Elementary, read "" on Savage-Guilford Patch.