BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo State’s campus was quiet Monday night just hours ahead of move in for students this fall semester. But the move in comes just hours after move out for 44 asylum seekers.
An agreement between Buffalo State and Jericho Road was terminated last week, displacing the migrants who had been living here at Buffalo State for the past three months.
Among them was Amuna Loki of South Sudan, who said she’s been on the move more than she’s been in a stable home for most of her life, and is now once again crushed with the burden of having to pack up all her things in a friend's car —this time though she says with barely any notice.
“It is very frustrating,” Loki said. “I've been running all my life from Sudan to Kenya. Now I came here seeking refuge. And then again, I've never actually gotten a place of my own that I could just wake up one morning and say I'm coming back to my house later in the evening. I've never had that feeling.”
According to Jericho Road’s CEO, the termination was a move based on prejudice toward migrants in the Western New York community after two sexual-assault related incidents in the past few weeks.
Buffalo State’s president has not confirmed nor denied whether the decision was sparked by those incidents, but those in Amuna’s position Monday told 2 On Your Side they feel it has everything to do with that and don’t feel it’s right for them to have to pay for crimes they didn’t commit.
While these asylum seekers are no longer going to be living here at Buffalo State, the university and Jericho Road both issued statements Monday saying Jericho Road has found temporary housing for all 44 migrants that were displaced until more permanent solutions can be found.