Day: April 21, 2010

Yikes! A Bhutanese refugee killed himself in Pittsburgh in January

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is a story we missed at the time but I see it was reported a couple of days ago at Friends of Refugees where blogger and refugee advocate Christopher Coen tells us more about “refugee syndrome” and a study about the Bhutanese in New York City.

I told you about problems the Bhutanese were having in NYC last fall here in an apartment building somehow connected to the filthy rich International Rescue Committee.  I see that Coen has noted that the IRC would  not be interviewed for the report on “refugee syndrome.”

The refugee who committed suicide in January had been resettled to Pittsburgh, another city we have previously mentioned where refugee overload was causing hardship for refugees and for the community.  As a matter of fact, I believe the refugee quoted in this article about the suicide is the same Bhanu Phuyel we heard from when we wrote about refugee exploitation in Pittsburgh late last fall.

The Bhutanese man, Jit Bahadur Pradhan,was found hanging in the laundry room.

Six members of the family were sharing a two-bed room apartment along with another family with four people. They had not received any other facility except food card.*

Phuyel said that Pradhan was annoyed with the circumstances, and used to complain with his two sons that the situation there was no better than in the camp in Nepal.

More than 150 Bhutanese refugees, who were earlier taking shelter in eastern Nepal, have been resettled in Pittsburgh and outlying areas including Prospect Park and Green Tree. Sixty of them are working in a food-packing company.

* Am I reading this right?  If he had been resettled in only December, why in hell were two families (10 people!) living in a two bedroom apartment.  During the first three months at least, resettlement agencies are required as part of their contract with the US State Department to have housing adequate for their family.  And, I will bet there are local housing code regulations prohibiting that many people in one apartment.  How did the resettlement agency—Catholic Charities??? Jewish Family Services???—let this happen.  Incidentally we hear story after story of refugees piling in with each other when families are evicted but that is usually months after the resettlement agencies claim they are no longer responsible.

And, I see we have Prospect Park again!  That is the shoddy housing complex run by Catholic Charities or their ‘friends.’

Note the reference to 60 refugees working in a food packing plant.  I know they need work, but I swear one day we will learn that the resettlement agencies get some sort of cut out of supplying cheap refugee labor—some sort of employment service fee.   But, its that damn presumption of good intentions and political correctness that keeps investigative reporters from finding the truth, or even beginning to look for the truth!

Note to mainstream reporters:  One day when you get around to looking into collusion between the humanitarian do-gooder organizations and big business in need of cheap labor, check out the connection between resettlement agencies and certain landlords.  In the meantime, I won’t be holding my breath.

USCRI keeps the Rohingya drumbeat going

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

USCRI is the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (one of the top ten federal refugee contractors).   I just mentioned them yesterday, here, in a story about unhappy Iraqis resettled in Boston.   Today I see they have two articles that continue the Rohingya resettlement drumbeat.  It’s way too much to go into—we have 91 posts on the Rohingya issue going back a couple of years—but for new readers the Rohingya are Muslims who along with Christians are being pushed out of Burma (Myanmar).

Muslim Bangladesh doesn’t want them either.  Some have gotten into boats and tried to enter Thailand causing an international outrage last year when charges were leveled at the Thai military for towing a boatload of asylum seekers out to sea.   We have also learned that thousands are imprisoned in MUSLIM Saudi Arabia. 

I’ll let you read USCRI’s two recent articles, here and here.  The gist of all this is that they are pushing first for Bangladesh to take in the Rohingya and if that fails, and they know it will, the Rohingya should be resettled in the West.  I’ve noticed the following line cropping up in comments from Muslims recently (even once in a comment to RRW) so it must be part of Islamic supremacists’ ‘talking points!’

It must also make all diplomatic efforts to find shelters for these stranded refugees in sparsely populated and prosperous countries of Europe and North America, and the Gulf states.

Calling all environmentalists (Carl Pope of the Open-Borders Sierra Club take note)—-what sparsely populated parts of the US might they be referring to?

And, finally, if all these drumbeat stories mentioned one thing I wouldn’t object so much.  They NEVER mention one important reason why people (and countries including Saudi Arabia) are leery of the Rohingya.  Some, and I say some, Rohingya have been linked to Islamic extremism with reports that Al-Qaeda-linked groups have recruited at Cox’s Bazaar (the refugee camp in Bangladesh).  If only they would throw a line in these stories about the terror links so people understood the full picture, it would make these reports more credible.

St. Cloud, MN man admits threatening Somalis

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We first told you about this case, here.   And, to learn more about the on-going controversy swirling around the Somali issue in St. Cloud start here (or use our search function for ‘St. Cloud’).

From the St. Cloud Times:

A New Hope man who posted an online threat to shoot Somalis at a St. Cloud State University cultural event pleaded guilty Monday to making terroristic threats.

[…..]

James Scott Miller, 49, admitted posting the threat in response to an advertisement he saw on Craigslist that gave details about a Somali cultural night at St. Cloud State.

Miller has been in custody since his arrest in late March, and he was released from jail after his plea. He will be sentenced at a later date, and a plea agreement caps his sentence at 90 days.

Miller said he saw the advertisement for the Somali event on Craigslist. That ad listed the admission price at $10 per person. Miller admitted that, in response to the post, he wrote: “I’ll bring my rifle. I’ll gladly pay $10 for target practice.”

Miller admitted he posted the threat to “get a rise out of some people.”

[…..]

Officers spoke to Miller, who told them he made the post because he lives in an apartment building with a large Somali population and that he’s mad at them because “they have no respect for anyone else in this building,” according to the complaint charging Miller.

I’ve heard of this problem in apartment buildings from several places in the US.  The one that comes to mind at the moment is Shelbyville, TN where tenants were forced to move from an apartment building due to the disrespect Somalis showed to other tenants.  One big complaint I recall was that Somali drivers would dent cars in the parking lot and then not report what they did to the owner of the car.   I sure hope this guy isn’t going home to the same building!