Oral history interview with Reza Uddin [Sound Recording 02]

Identity elements

Reference code

SR12331_S01P2

Name and location of repository

Level of description

Item

Title

Oral history interview with Reza Uddin [Sound Recording 02]

Date(s)

  • 2019-07-25 (Creation)

Extent

WAV; 00:04:40

Name of creator

Biographical history

Reza Uddin was born in Maungdaw, Burma, in 1964. In 1982, the government passed a law that rescinded Burmese citizenship for Rohingya Muslims. While Uddin was in college in Rangoon, the status of Rohingyas steadily deteriorated, and he was active in student organizations for Rohingya rights. In 1993, he received a student visa for the United States, and attended Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Oregon. He was granted asylum after his visa expired. He transferred to Portland State University, and later earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry. In 2001, he became a U.S. citizen. In 2017, he founded Friends of the Rohingya, which supports Rohingya refugees.

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

Session 1, Part 2. This oral history interview with Resa Uddin was conducted by Allison Merkel and Sankar Raman on July 25, 2019. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States.

In this interview, Uddin discusses his family background and early life in Maungdaw, Burma, in the 1960s and 1970s, including the relationship between Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists. He describes the deterioration in the status of Rohingya Muslims after the 1982 change to the Burmese constitution that rescinded their citizenship, and talks about his experience in college in Rangoon, including his involvement in student organizations for Rohingya rights. He also discusses the history of oppression of the Rohingya, and describes the oppression he and his family experienced in the 1980s and 1990s. He speaks about coming to the United States on a student visa, and about his experiences living and studying in Pendleton, Oregon. He talks about the process of receiving asylum. He discusses his experiences at Portland State University, and as the only Rohingya in Portland until 2005. He also talks about his marriage and the process of getting a green card for his wife. He discusses jobs he held, including running a gas station with his wife in Salem, Oregon. He closes the interview by talking about his work to help other Rohingya refugees, and by sharing his thoughts about the future of the Rohingya people.

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use elements

Conditions governing access

Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and The Immigrant Story. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

Physical access

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

Languages of the material

  • eng

Scripts of the material

Language and script notes

Finding aids

Acquisition and appraisal elements

Custodial history

Immediate source of acquisition

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

Accruals

Related materials elements

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related archival materials

Related descriptions

Notes element

Specialized notes

Alternative identifier(s)

Description control element

Rules or conventions

Sources used

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Digital object metadata

Digital object (Master) rights area

Digital object (Reference) rights area

Accession area