Describes the resettlement in the United States of Sudanese orphans, including the young men known as the “Lost Boys,” and efforts to remove more children from the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. Established by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1992, Kakuma soon could not accommodate the influx of refugees, became increasingly understaffed, and suffered funding shortfalls that reduced food rations. Of the Kakuma youth resettled in the U.S., only 500 under the age of 18 years old were given priority (P-1) status by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), which ensured that they would receive the benefits of minors, including foster care and school enrollment. For some 3,000-plus older refugee youth (the “Lost Boys”), PRM created the P-2 designation to bring them to the U.S. Subsequent discussion about ways to expand resettlement processing out of Kakuma focused on Sudanese minors and young adults who were eligible, but excluded from, the initial processing, including: siblings or close cousins of the “Lost Boys”; children who had missed crucial processing deadlines; a considerable number of girls; and young men and women whose marriages in the camp were likely forced or not conducted according to their clan’s customs.
