At Riverton Park United Methodist Church in Tukwila, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding as a refugee and migrant camp faces a lack of resources, poor conditions, and antagonism from the local government and police.

A letter written by some of the Venezuelan migrants at the camp stated “we have nowhere to stay, only in tents where the cold is killing us. We want to ask the State to help us live well, because we are human beings, both for children and for the adults who are also human beings.”

The camp is home to refugees mostly from Central Africa and South America, many facing displacement from home countries due to US imperialism and destabilization of their governments and systems. This has led to extreme violence, genocide, torture, and extortion in these countries, necessitating countless people to flee in search of safety and comfort. An anonymous resident at the camp stated “If the United States wasn’t destabilizing our countries back in Africa and other places, we wouldn’t even need to be here… they pillaged everything; they took everything from our land and our resources. And now that we’re here and they’re not going to take care of us, [it] is unacceptable.”

In the camp, most residents are forced to live outside in makeshift tents, mostly exposed to the elements. To make matters worse, the camp has become infested with rats and is facing the spread of Hepatitis-A, tuberculosis, and other dangerous diseases. 

Criticisms of the systems in charge of the camp abound, including the church’s Reverend and other staff members, who are said to be providing inadequate aid to residents. The church’s staff members have also been accused of racism and favoritism in the provision of resources to residents, with some groups, particularly the African refugees, feeling entirely left out. 

Additionally, the governments of Tukwila, King County and Washington State have provided minimal to no aid to the residents.

King County has made efforts to house the camp’s residents in hotel rooms, but with a budget of only $3 million, it was only able to rent out 100 hotel rooms, housing just over 300 people on a longer-term basis while hundreds of others continue to be exposed to the elements. Washington State’s government, meanwhile, has taken no action, instead leaving the situation to local mutual aid groups and NGOs such as the church, many of whom do not have the resources to adequately provide aid to such a large number of people.

There are also questions of fund mismanagement through this situation, through NGOs like the church receiving some relief funds but still leaving camp residents in poor conditions. Local mutual aid groups, meanwhile, have provided aid as much as possible, but without more resources, there is little they can accomplish in a situation this large.

Earlier this month, the City of Tukwila, in conjunction with its police department, put forth harmful legislation that, if implemented, would limit the size of such encampments to 100 residents. The Riverton camp is estimated to be home to over 200 refugees, and asylum seekers could be at risk of forceful removal and face even greater difficulty finding long-term housing if the legislation passes. 

With the recent cold front passing through northwest Washington bringing temperatures down as low as 14 degrees Fahrenheit, many refugees in the camp feared for their lives, as they don’t have access to enough warming materials and heating elements. Some were temporarily housed inside the church, while the remainder were temporarily given hotel rooms nearby. 

Those who stayed in the hotel rooms were excited to finally be experiencing better conditions and expressed dismay at the thought of going back to the camp. A press conference was held at the camp on January 16, where residents and organizers could discuss their concerns about the camp and treatment. One resident spoke to the group, saying “We really don’t want to go back to the church because the situation there is very bad and all the help that you can give for us to not go back to the church would be very good.” Another resident added, “we really want to say that we really don’t want to go back to the church and we want the city and the state to see what they can do for us because the situation there is really bad.”

To help alleviate the crisis currently happening at the Riverton camp, organizers are calling for five specific demands to be met, with the goal of an improved quality of life for the refugees. The demands are as follows, according to the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the International Migrants Alliance:

Temporary housing

Work permits and jobs

Affordable/free medical visits

Orthodontic and dental care

Public, pro bono or affordable immigration lawyers

To help the campers’ conditions, you can donate to local mutual aid groups to help fund supplies and hotel rooms where possible. So far, the group has been able to temporarily house some residents in Airbnb accommodations, but requires more funding to accommodate the remaining residents, and to keep the accommodations paid for into the future. The payment details are attached below.