Rape charges against Sudanese refugee lead to embarrassment in Midwest American community of African migrants
By DAVE KOLPACK, Associated Press Writer
FARGO, North Dakota, June 16, 2004 (AP) — Chol Deng Chol fled civil war in Sudan with dreams of getting an American education and one day returning home to help repair his country.
Today he sits in jail in his adopted homeland, charged with rape and facing deportation if convicted. His case has embarrassed many who championed the so-called “Lost Boys of Sudan,” thousands of refugees from the east African nation who were resettled in America.
Chol, 25, a second-year civil engineering student at North Dakota State University, was one of the first Lost Boys to arrive in the city of Fargo in America’s Midwest, home to hundreds of Sudanese newcomers.
“His whole life was to come to America, get an education, go home and help his people,” said Pat Gores, who has volunteered to help many of the Sudanese refugees in Fargo.
Chol is accused of raping two teenage girls after a night of drinking at his apartment. He was charged April 28 with two counts of gross sexual imposition and delivering alcohol to a minor.
Chol pleaded not guilty to all three charges. Authorities said Chol raped the girls, ages 14 and 16, after he and a friend gave them alcohol.
His trial is to start in September.
Chol is among more than 3,000 Lost Boys who have been resettled in the United States, most of them orphaned by fighting between the Islamic fundamentalist government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. Many spent years trekking across the desert and living in refugee camps.
Members of the Sudanese community say about 500 Sudanese families live in the area around Fargo. There are many success stories, said Julie Hinkel, the city’s refugee liaison officer.
Five of the Lost Boys graduated this year from Fargo Oak Grove Lutheran High School. Four of them have been accepted at North Dakota State University.
And some hope to use their skills to help improve life in Sudan.
But Chol’s case has brought embarrassment and sadness to the community. Many of the Lost Boys feel scared and ashamed, though police have heard no reports of retaliation against any of the Sudanese immigrants, Hinkel said.
“They are very nervous about what they can and can’t do,” Hinkel said. “Right now, they are in a situation where they want to be friends with everyone, but they are living in fear.
“It’s a black eye for a community that, for the most part, is trying to do well to be successful,” she said.
Chol did not responded to requests for an interview. His lawyer, Thomas Edinger, did not return phone calls.
Sudanese resident Abraham Madhier, 25, said his friends are angry that Chol may have put them in a bad light.
“I hope that we are not judged according to one person,” Madhier said.
Madhier, who lived in Chol’s apartment building, said a newspaper story about Chol’s arrest was pasted on the front entry of the complex.
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On the Net:
More info on Lost Boys of Sudan: http://www.churchworldservice.org/betterworld2/lost-boys.html