It seems that once the mainstream media finally gets hold of a story, it becomes the same old story everywhere. We have two such refugee issues that are now starting to bore me to death! One is the ‘missing Somali youths’ story which I am so behind in posting on it’s shameful. But it’s the media’s fault that I am bored because they are such lemmings and their articles are all the same.
This is the ‘unhappy Iraqi refugee’ story we see everywhere—we must have at least 25 posts on the subject. If you are a new reader and not yet bored out of your mind, this is about how Iraqi refugees are coming to the US in droves (thanks to the at least 2-year-old lobbying campaign put on by the refugee industry), not finding work, not being properly taken care of by the agencies contracted to do so, and complaining (loudly) to the media.
Every one of these stories tells us about Iraqis who feel they were misled when they decided to come to the US as a refugee. It’s the same old story in the Charlotte Observer. First there is an Iraqi sympathy story, then the template tells us the Iraqis are so unhappy here that some want to go home. And, usually, to be fair, there is a report that some Iraqis are happy to be in the US no matter what. You can read all that yourself.
Here are a couple of sections of the article that I want to comment on. This is the first:
Now, like many Iraqis, he [one of the Iraqis quoted] says he doesn’t understand why the U.S. government welcomed him if this country cannot afford him the ability to support his family. The U.S. government has provided thousands of good jobs to people in Iraq, they say, so why can’t it provide them to those who are starting over in America?
[….]
The idea that the government should provide work reflects a basic misunderstanding of the United States and its refugee program, some of those who work with refugees say.
Mark Kadel, director of the N.C. office of World Relief, one of eight agencies that work with the federal government to resettle refugees in the state, said a feeling of entitlement has made it difficult to help some Iraqis. He said most of the 52 families his group has resettled have been agreeable and eager, but some, who earned advanced degrees in Iraq, come with unrealistic expectations and balk at low-end service jobs.
“They’ll say, ‘You brought me here. You invaded our country and so you owe us,'” Kadel said. “We’re not going to spoon-feed them just like a little child. They’re going to have to start at the bottom and work their way up, just like an American.”
I know the government can’t provide them all with work (at least not until Obama gets through changing our basic economic structure), but I think the average American, if he thinks about refugees at all, expects they will be working and not living on welfare. And, I do believe helping refugees find employment is part of the contracting agency’s duties, in this case World Relief (an Evangelical Christian organization). When I read this excerpt, I got the impression that Mr. Kadel doesn’t even like the Iraqi “clients” in his care.
Then here is the International Rescue Committee (IRC), which is lobbying for more money for itself, weighing in with its own special spin to guilt-trip the public.
“People could be returning to extremely dangerous situations in Iraq or just complete destitution in Jordan. If that could be better than their life in the United States, that’s a reflection on the program,” said IRC spokeswoman Melissa Winkler. “This is a country that had a role in their upheaval, and we strongly believe that the United States has a responsibility to assist them.”
Complete destitution in Jordan? I understand that Iraqis live fairly well in Jordan, afterall didn’t Angelina Jolie just tell us so recently. Their situation might be filled with uncertainty for the future, but destitute? No! However, the word “uncertainty” doesn’t cut it when you are trying to spin the story to make Americans feel rotten, guilt-ridden and willing to write to Washington for more money for refugee agencies. “Destitution” is a better choice of words.