North Carolina is state # 14* with no jobs for Iraqi refugees, and possibly other refugees are having a difficult time too, according to this report in Yes Weekly.
Sayed (director of refugee programs at the local Islamic Center) has developed dozens of case files for Iraqi refugees who began arriving in Greensboro and High Point last spring. She said many of the Iraqi refugees have been unable to secure employment. Sayed questioned why resettlement agencies continue to bring new refugees when the job market is so tight. Ivory of Lutheran Family Services said her agency has dramatically scaled back the number of refugees it plans to place in the Carolinas next year in light of current economic conditions.
So, if our refugee numbers are to remain high and Refugees International is telling their supporters to tell Obama to expand the Iraqi refugee numbers to over 100,000 (Bush Admin. proposed 17,000) this fiscal year, and this volag (non-profit resettlement agency) is saying they are cutting back, where will they all go?
Read the rest of the article which is mostly about the Mosque helping feed and clothe Burmese refugees, but you will see it is not clear that they need the help.
* The thirteen other states we have written about so far are Arizona, Maryland, New Hampshire,Virginia, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, Idaho, Connecticut, New Mexico, California and Washington.
Note to AP reporter Matthew Lee: If you ever get around to writing about this side of the Iraqi refugee issue, the unhappy jobless side, instead of being the public relations arm of Refugees International, you can go to our Iraqi refugee category and find all the states that have frustrated unemployed Iraqis.