Month: July 2012

Happy 5th birthday to us!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Refugee Resettlement Watch was officially five years old on July 1st.   Somehow I thought our bday was later in the month and had planned to pat ourselves on the back sometime this next week.   What prompted me to have a look was that yesterday lots of visitors were clicking on this post from 2007 which gave me great satisfaction to know that we are being useful (and, LOL!, it reminds me of things I’ve forgotten we knew!).

So, when I checked the archives for 2007, I see we opened for business on the first of July 2007!

Since that time Judy and I have posted 4,189 posts in 50 categories.  And, although by big blog standards our 1,224,432 visitors is tiny, for a blog on a very specific topic it’s not bad.   Our top most-visited post is this one—How did we get so many Somali refugees—with 21,724 visitors to date.

In February wordpress added a very cool feature to our stats and tells us where our readers are coming from.  The top four countries are understandable—US, Canada, UK and Australia.  But, here are the next eleven that make up the top 15 countries from which we have readers: India, Malaysia, Iceland, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Germany, Norway and Kenya.

How did we get started?  I credit our local newspaper, the Hagerstown Herald Mail, with inspiring me to become a blogger because they steadfastly refused to explain to the public how the Refugee Resettlement Program of the US State Department worked when refugees were quietly being resettled to Hagerstown by the Virginia Council of Churches.

Take a minute and look at this post (The fix is in….) I wrote in 2007 which includes questions I thought the mainstream media—the Hagerstown Herald Mail in this case—should answer for their readers in our rural Maryland county.   Pretty reasonable questions aren’t they?  But, the truth is that the powers at the paper were helping promote the resettlement and didn’t want to tell the public more.   So, Judy and I figured we would do the job—and here we are 5 years later still trying to get all the answers for you!

If you have any interest in following the history of our Hagerstown refugee story, please see our category entitled September Forum, here.

Features readers shouldn’t miss!

If you are arriving here for the first time, here are some of the ways you can use RRW:

Note, first, the categories in the left hand column where you might find topics of interest.  For example, the category Rohingya Reports includes five years worth of stories that will become important to you all as we begin resettling more and more Rohingya Muslims.  It’s been fascinating to watch the media drumbeat increasing over the years for resettlement of these controversial Burmese Muslims.  And, you won’t get this history anywhere else.

One of my favorite features is the Top Posts in the right hand sidebar.  I like to see every day which posts are being read the most and you might find that of interest as well.

If you are looking for basic information on the refugee program, our fact sheet, in the header is what you need.

Where to find information is a category we use for reports, statistics and other documents you might need to understand the program and help your community know what is happening to them.  With nearly 200 posts in that category it might be getting too unwieldy, so use our search function for specific topics.   I think you will find it pretty good!

There are other topics I now wish we had made categories for, but didn’t know early-on that we would have so many stories on the topic.  For example, you will laugh, we have no category on Somalis which likely would now be our largest and who knew 5 years ago that food stamp fraud would be so hot when we had the convenience store rip-off artist in Hagerstown named Mohamad (who arrived about the same time the refugees did—hmmmm)

So again, use the search function and see what we have available.

And, thanks for visiting!  We hope you have found our charitable work at Refugee Resettlement Watch useful!

Ann & Judy

“Expats” going back to Somalia with money to rebuild

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Expats or refugees, which is it?

Relative peace in Mogadishu is bringing back Somalis to rebuild their war torn country and it makes me laugh—we call them “expatriates” in this Voice of America story while the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is planning today in Geneva to bring more Somali “refugees” to the West.

As I said in a previous post on Somalia and the arrival of peace there—we should have a repatriation project to encourage those well-educated and well-fed former Somali refugees to return to their homeland and fix it!

Here is Voice of America (Hammers replace bullets as Mogadishu rebuilds):

MOGADISHU — The emergence of peace in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, has shaped the city for the better, giving it a new face. Residents are returning to and restoring their bullet-ridden homes and businesses after years of living in makeshift camps scattered in and out of the city.

The sound of hammers has replaced the sound of machine guns in the streets of Mogadishu. Construction is going on everywhere for new homes, hotels and shopping malls.  Businesses are thriving, government institutions are being renovated and building owners are reclaiming their property from squatters.

Hassan Sankay Ali, a sawmill owner in a district known as Kilometer Five, said there has been high demand for building materials, and due to that demand prices have risen.

People are coming out to buy building materials, Ali said. Most of the people coming to buy are either building new houses or renovating existing homes.

[….]

The economic boom is fueled by expatriates flocking back and investing millions of dollars. This provides jobs for thousands of young militiamen eager to get out of the killing business.

Mohamud Hareed Dagey came from London six months ago and opened a new restaurant near Lido Beach, and he also plans to build a hotel. He said more Somalis living abroad must return home to build the economy.

Yes indeed!

UNHCR opens refugee pow-wow in Geneva tomorrow, plans for America’s refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

And, they are going to be planning for America to get more Muslims.  Well, they don’t say it exactly that way, but that is the gist of it.

Here is the press briefing from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (on the “consultation”).  I wonder how many American bureaucrats and NGOs on the taxpayer’s dime have headed off on a sweet summer junket to Switzerland today?

UNHCR and its partners are meeting between Monday and Wednesday of next week in Geneva to look at ways to better help the 859,300 refugees globally for whom resettlement is the only possible solution to their plight.

The 18th Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement, chaired by Australia, and bringing together representatives of resettlement countries, Non-Governmental Organizations, service providers, and UNHCR staff, has three main objectives: it will look at enhancing resettlement as a solution for refugees and as mechanism for burden sharing between countries; improving the ways in which resettlement works with a view to reducing the time taken for considering cases for resettlement; and improving reception and integration of resettled refugees.

Globally, there are just 81,000 resettlement places each year offered among some 26 States, meaning that in any year only one-in-10 persons needing resettlement will have an opportunity to be resettled.

You know what is so funny?  The Obama Administration has set its ceiling for the 2012 fiscal year at 76,000 (costing the US taxpayer $1 billion per year!), so that means the other 25 states get to resettle 5,000 among the 25 Nations (wow! 200 refugees each).

It gets even more hilarious!

Over the past five years UNHCR working with resettlement States, NGOs, and other partners has been able to use resettlement to help 330,000 refugees resume their lives. In 2011 UNHCR submitted 92,000 refugees to countries for resettlement, and 61,649 refugees departed with UNHCR’s help to 22 countries.

In 2011, the US resettled 56,424 of the 61,649 that went to 22 countries!  So, therefore, about 92% of the UNHCR’s refugees came to the United States in 2011!

And, using various sources* (not including the 20,000 or so Cuban refugees that are never included in the stats), here are the numbers we (US) have resettled in the last 5 years:

2007:  48,281

2008:  60,192

2009:  74,654

2010:  73,311

2011:  56,424

Total for the last five years:  312,862   (330,ooo resettled worldwide)

Looks like the US resettled 95% of those refugees resettled by the over two dozen countries taking credit for resettling refugees.

Now here are the ethnic groups this gang in Geneva will be talking about sending our way this next year!

Based on current trends, by country of origin, Somalis, Iraqis, Afghans, and Congolese are expected to be the major refugee populations over the coming years with higher resettlement needs.

Looks like we will be getting mostly Muslims (or the refugee victims of Muslims)!

Addendum:  See Geert Wilders speech in Colorado last weekend, here.   While Wilders warns,  No more mosque building and no more Muslim immigration!, the beat goes on in Geneva.

* One good source for numbers for recent years is the Cultural Orientation Resource Center, here.  You can also visit the Office or Refugee Resettlement Annual Reports, here.  But, that reminds me, ORR is still breaking the law and thumbing its nose at Congress as it is 3 years behind in sending reports to Congress either because of bureaucratic ineptitude or they are hiding something—-perhaps statistics on how bad the economy is and how refugees are not working and are thus living on welfare.

You can also use WRAPS to see who (which nationalities) has been resettled in your town.

Somali terror suspect finally detained in London….

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

…..after he broke the rules of his movement restrictions and turned up five times at London’s Olympic Park!  Think about this!  “CF” is one of nine British suspected terrorists who are being watched by the British Home Secretary.  Wouldn’t you think he would have been detained before now!

And, one has to read down 20 paragraphs before learning he is a Somali.

From The Telegraph:

The alleged al-Qaeda militant was caught crossing through the Olympic Park five times, breaking a ban imposed by the Home Secretary, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

The 24 year-old has previously tried to get to Afghanistan, allegedly for terrorist training, and is suspected of fighting for the Somali Islamist group al Shabaab, which has been responsible for thousands of deaths, including those of Western aid workers. He is accused of trying to recruit other Britons to its cause.

A Home Office lawyer warned after his discovery in the Olympic area that the man – known as CF – wanted to “re-engage in terrorism-related activities, either in the UK or Somalia” and is “determined to continue to adhere to his Islamist extremist agenda”.

His detention is the most serious security alert yet to hit the Olympic Park.

[….]

CF is one of nine suspected risks to national security who are subject to Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (Tpim) – legal orders which restrict their movements and computer use and who they can meet.

[….]

He was prosecuted in Britain but absconded during his trial in June 2009 and fled to Somalia. In his absence he was acquitted of any crime.

Officials claim CF, who comes from a large family of Somali [refugee!–ed] origin from north London, attended a terrorist training camp and fought alongside jihadis from the al-Qaeda group al-Shabaab.

Read it all.

By the way, we reported last February that British security said that Somalis who left Britain (and the US!) for Jihad training in Africa would be back, here.

Update July 8:  Now The Telegraph is reporting that British security may round-up “marginal” suspects like this Somali in advance of the Olympic games.

Lexington, KY: New twist on food stamp fraud

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here is yet another way for immigrant food stamp fraudsters to rip-off the American taxpayer, thanks to reader Robin for sending this in after reading my post yesterday on food stamp fraud in West Virginia, here.

And, can you believe it, it’s another Mohamad involved!  New readers might want to search RRW for food stamp fraud and I think you will be struck by how many cases involve someone named Mohamad (or one of the many variations on the name).  Ripping-off infidels is permitted in the Islamic faith.

From Lex18:

Police in Lexington said they arrested two people in a scheme in which people were selling EBT cards for bath salts.

Outside Six Brothers Market on West Sixth Street, undercover police arrested Mohamad Kadah. Police say his family runs the store and another around the corner where customers line up before business hours to buy synthetic meth, marketed as bath salts. Investigators say the salts, which are illegal and dangerous, are selling like crazy in businesses like these because of the cocaine methamphetamine like “high” they give people.

And as it turns out, taxpayers are paying for the alleged scheme. During a raid of Six Brothers, police found 32 EBT cards, food stamp cards with pin numbers belonging to 32 different people. Police suspect some of the cards were traded for bath salts or sold to the merchant for fast cash.

Another man, Bahjat Amira, a clerk, was arrested and charged with welfare fraud and selling the illegal bath salts.

Police say it is a growing problem, merchants paying cash for a fraction of the card’s value then using the welfare recipient’s pin number to buy hundreds of dollars of supplies for their store.

By the way, I see that a Mohamad Kadah (age 21) was on Lexington’s most wanted list, here, in October 2011 (photo 5).  Same guy? Could the store owner be 21? Or is this a son?