And, you know stereotyping is very wrong and doing so makes you a very very bad person.
RRW geography lesson! Just found this very useful map that updates every day the countries where Ebola has been reported (in case you plan to go to Africa).
I just re-read this article and wondered why it was news.
We know here at RRW that Maine is in overload with its mostly African immigrants and the recent rush of asylum seekers, but this article is nothing more than a lecture to those dummies (I’m not calling anyone a dummy!) who live in Maine and don’t know about geography and other such things more worldly people might know about.
Read it yourselves. The bottom line is that no one can seem to find any Africans in Maine yet stereotyped as possible Ebola carriers, but just in case you Mainers have a hankering to start stereotyping, don’t do it says the Portland Press Herald.
…representatives of several Maine immigrant communities in Portland and Lewiston-Auburn said they have not experienced any negative interactions because of the Ebola outbreak.
But rest assured, the powers-that-be are getting a jump on the non-problem by distributing information on how you should be thinking.
By the way, it isn’t just happening in Maine, I saw other articles before I went away where “communities” were heading stereotyping off-at-the- pass.
One more effort to drill in the immigrants-are-victims meme (but, hey, aren’t they now stereotyping?).
About the map which can be found by clicking here—Tourism Update says it is updated every day. Cool huh?
See our Health Issuescategory for more on refugee and immigrant health in America.
Yesterday we told you about the English town of Middlesbrough and how residents there are struggling to cope with the flood of asylum seekers (Africans and Middle Easterners) in need of homes and services, today it is a rural region of the Netherlands feeling the strain.
Drenthe is a province in Holland known for its scenic beauty and outdoor recreation. http://www.nederlandfietsland.nl/en/cycling-province-of/drenthe
From Dutch News (hat tip: Diana). They were filling up a vacation park.
Fewer asylum seekers will be placed in a holiday park in rural Drenthe than the 1,400 originally planned, officials have decided, after locals complained of being overwhelmed by so many people.
The Pipodorp park is currently home to 400 asylum seekers and the problems are being caused by a group of around 100 single men, many from Eritrea, Nos television said. [The men all probably got into Europe as ‘boat people’who then just made their way north. They are supposed to stay in the first country they reach in Europe, but they don’t care about EU rules!—ed]
Locals have complained that minibuses they use to get around are now full of refugees and shop-keepers have spoken of 40 at a time turning up in the village shop. Oranje itself has a population of around 120.
Local mayor Jan Broertjes has now agreed with the national refugee placement agency COA that only families from Syria will be placed in the park. The men will be relocated later on Wednesday.
Wifi
The Oranje park will now be given security guards and wifi, so that residents no longer have to go into the village to use the internet.
There has been a surge in refugee numbers, particularly from Syria, in recent months. In the first six months of the year, some 12,300 people requested asylum in the Netherlands, double the 2013 figure.
Earlier, school chiefs said they were struggling to cope with the number of refugee children.
We bring you these stories from Europe (about the invasion) for a couple of reasons: We have many European readers who follow us every day and because Americans need to know how bad it could get.
Remember readers, if your town (or state—Wyoming!) is “welcoming” refugees (and is initially generous with social services) this is the inevitable outcome—aggressive refugees, once their numbers reach a sufficient level, will demand more from local taxpayers.
Community organizer Asad Aliweyd Director of the New American Academy in Eden Prairie: “…the need is huge.” http://metrostability.org/news/article.php?sid=Alliance_Welcomes_New_Board_Members
As an outer-ring, affluent suburb, Eden Prairie may seem an unlikely city to draw a growing refugee community. But 17 years ago, Somali-Americans like Asad Aliweyd moved there for its top-ranked schools, safe community and job opportunities.
Now, nearly two decades later, Eden Prairie has the third-largest Somali population in the Twin Cities, next to Minneapolis and St. Paul, according to the city, with an estimated 3,500 to 5,000 residents.
The Somali language is second only to English in Eden Prairie schools. The police department has its first Somali police reserve officer. And the city has Somali businesses, including a halal grocery store, and two mosques.
“Eden Prairie is more welcoming to Somalis than anywhere else,” said Aliweyd, a former math teacher who now runs a center providing classes for Somali youth and adults.
But he and other Somali leaders are pushing for more support from the city and school district, and for more affordable housing as the city plans for development along the future Southwest Corridor light-rail line. There, Aliweyd envisions a multicultural market like Minneapolis’ Midtown Global Market and more affordable apartments.
“In Eden Prairie, we are in an island,” he said of Somali resources. “If we weren’t here, no one would be doing this.”
City and school leaders say they are providing free resources to residents for everything from finding housing to filling out job applications, hosting a popular monthly program for Somali mothers and having Somali-speaking coordinators to help families.
“We’re trying to help them out the best we can with limited budgets,” City Council Member Brad Aho said. [Bend over!—ed]
There is a lot more in the article. Go here to continue reading.
Columbus, Ohio activists working hard on behalf of Somalis looking for good affordable housing, here.
See one of our top posts for all time, from 2011—Why so many Somalis in Minneapolis?—and thank the US State Department, Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Services and World Relief Minnesota for dropping the original Somali seed community into the fertile ground of a generous, welfare-rich, state.
This isn’t a refugee story, but it does involve one of our favored refugee nationalities—an Ethiopian—who paid the now “fiancée” of Gov. John Kitzhaber $5000 more than a decade ago to marry him to gain US citizenship.
Just for your information, we have tens of thousands of Ethiopians now in the US through refugee resettlement. In fact the Director of the entire federal Office of Refugee Resettlement is Ethiopian Eskinder Negash. Additionally one of the nine major federal refugee contractors is the Ethiopian Community Development Council.
Earlier this year we reported on a huge marriage fraud bust in the African migrant go-to state of Maine, here.
Hayes has been living with the Governor as his “domestic partner” since 2003 according to wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kitzhaber
Here is the juicy news from KATU.com (hat tip: Cathy):
PORTLAND, Ore. – In a stunning admission Thursday, Gov. John Kitzhaber’s fiancée Cylvia Hayes admitted to illegally marrying an Ethiopian immigrant in the late 1990s for money and so he could stay in the United States to get a college degree.
Hayes said she was paid about $5,000 and made the “bad decision” to marry the man during a “difficult and unstable period” of her life and that she was “associating with the wrong people” at the time.
[…..]
Hayes apologized to the people of Oregon and to the governor for her actions and said Kitzhaber did not know about the marriage until this Tuesday.
“I was ashamed and embarrassed; therefore, I did not share this information even with John once we met and started dating,” she said.
She also said she has retained a lawyer and is prepared to accept the consequences.
The Governor did not attend the Hayes press conference.
There is a lot more, read it all here. Hayes might not be prosecuted, but sources tell KATU that the Ethiopian scammer could be deported.
More Bloggers needed! Someone should write a blog focusing on scams being perpetrated by migrants on America. Heck, look at all the food stamp fraud (trafficking!) caseswe have reported over the years. And, then there are the Medicaid fraud cases in addition to the phony marriages. There would be fresh news every day for you to report. You could have a blast!
Our Syrian refugee alerts are overflowing as usual, so I thought perhaps I should occasionally report the hottest issues. Here are a few stories today:
President Jose Mujica greeted the refugees in person after their two-day journey. The Uruguayan resettlement plan is unprecedented in Latin America. http://omnifeed.com/article/www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-29561681
First, the possible fall of Kobani to ISIS is sending the biggest tidal wave of refugees toward Turkey (which will surely further destabilize that country).
From Syria Deeply entitled: ‘180,000 Refugees from Kobani Mark the Biggest Displacement in the Biggest Refugee Crisis, Ever’
Since the ISIS advance on Kobani, the Turkish government and aid agencies have been struggling to respond to the influx of more than 180,000 Syrian refugees into southern Turkey
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that the Syrian Kurdish border town of Kobani was “about to fall to ISIS.” Since the advance on Kobani, the Turkish government and aid agencies have been struggling to respond to the influx of more than 180,000 Syrian refugees into southern Turkey. The sudden, massive flow of refugees fleeing ISIS is the largest displacement in the Syrian conflict.
Humanitarian groups project that there will be 3.59 million Syrian refugees by December 2014, with annual budget requirements of US$3.74 billion (56% of which remains unfunded). For UNHCR, the Syria operation is now the largest in its 64-year history.
Just a reminder for new readers, the US State Department says we are going to take thousands of refugees from Turkey, here.
The UNHCR wants foreign aid for Greece so it can cope with Syrian and Somali migrants arriving by the thousands
UNHCR officials in Greece called for the European Union countries to support Greece as many refugees are in that country.
Joorjoos Tasabobulos is UNHCR official in Greece. He said the number of fleeing refugees coming to the Greek islands of Agenee K/bari, Agen and Dodeshense is on the increase. He said in the first eight months of this year, 22,089 refugees of which 65% are Syrians have arrived there whereas other refugees included Somalis, Eritreans and Afghans.
Elsewhere refugees numbering 140,000 from Somalia, Eritrea, Syria and Sudan arrived in Italy but Italy lacks resources to manage them.
See our series on the ‘invasion of Europe’ by clickinghere.
Uruguay takes Syrian refugees.
You would think this was the most important item in the Syrian refugee news today based on the number of stories the news has generated.
A small number of Syrian refugees have arrived in Uruguay from Lebanon.
Forty-two refugees, belonging to five families, were greeted on arrival by the Uruguayan President, Jose Mujica.
They will spend two months in accommodation near the capital Montevideo where they will learn Spanish and attend classes on local customs.***
Other Latin American countries have taken Syrians in but Uruguay is the first to assume all resettlement costs.
Officials say the two-year resettlement programme will cost Uruguay around $3m (£1.9m).
They say the adults have already been guaranteed jobs and the children have places in local school. A second group is due to arrive next year.
*** Note this huge difference in how these refugees will be assimilated—in a center for a few months to learn the language and customs! In the US they are just deposited in cities and urged to be on their own, to be “self-sufficient” in three months.
Click here for all Syrian refugee posts archived at RRW.
