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.