COVID-19 News: NGOs in Europe Call on Governments to Take Better Care of Migrants

This is a bit of maddening news!

Non-profit groups that have encouraged the migration of Africans and Middle Easterners to Europe for a decade or more are now demanding the governments of Greece and France do more to protect migrants as the virus crisis deepens.

Why?

Because as one official at Catholic Charities Caritas said: “[W]e need to protect our volunteers and staff.”

What! So governments need to send in government workers instead of their ‘volunteers!’

Here is the invasion of Europe news from The Guardian:

NGOs raise alarm as coronavirus strips support from EU refugees

Governments across Europe are facing calls to urgently put into place measures to protect refugees and migrants – in particular lone children – as the coronavirus epidemic sees volunteer numbers plunge and many vital support services close.

On Tuesday, groups working with refugees and unaccompanied children in France and Greece implored the authorities in both countries to provide urgent help to refugees and unaccompanied minors, whom they say have been effectively abandoned by the authorities. [Abandoned by authorities? Sounds like abandoned by the NGOs!—ed]

NYC based International Rescue Committee (led by moneybags Miliband) is one group that is demanding Greece and France do more. They said in a statement this week: “The physical health and safety of our staff, our clients, and our communities is the International Rescue Committee’s top priority globally.” “Clients” are refugees. Community does not mean your town, it means their community of migrants and volunteers.

In France, a group of 24 organisations sent a letter to the French government and the mayors of Calais and Grande-Synthe imploring them to provide urgent interventions to refugees and migrants in northern France.

In the letter, the organisations, which include Médecins du Monde and Refugee Rights Europe, say:

“The situation of exiled people is unspeakable: lack of accommodation, cold, humidity, stress, fatigue, crowding together in light tents, daily expulsion from places of life, deplorable sanitary conditions.”

The groups say that, in the absence of any other protection measures, the state should provide accommodation and basic food distribution as well as access to hot water and soap to try to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus among the migrant community.

[….]

The groups, including the IRC [International Rescue Committee], Human Rights Watch, and the Danish Refugee Council among others, also called for a raft of protective measures including an end to deportations and pressing forward with relocation and family reunion programmes for unaccompanied minors across Europe.

[….]

One charity in northern France told the Guardian they are losing desperately needed volunteers as the epidemic takes hold across the continent.

No kidding!  When the s*** hits the fan, the fair-weather do-gooders beg for government help!

More here.

If you are a new reader, and want to know more about the ‘Invasion of Europe’ my archives are here. To learn all about moneybags Miliband, click here. 

This is the IRC’s statement on the refugee shutdown that begins (supposedly) today in the US.

Laura Ingraham: With Americans Increasingly Jobless, Where is the Moratorium on Immigration?

Yes indeed!

Are we just bringing in more people every day who will be unemployed for the foreseeable future, sure looks like it.

Supposedly the UN is stopping the flow of refugees worldwide (the UN controls the spigot), but so far we are still ‘welcoming’ more impoverished people to America even in the last few days.

See my latest on the numbers here:

UN Says the Refugee Flow has Stopped, Yet US Admits 182 Since Monday!

 

Here is John Binder at Breitbart reporting on Ingraham’s sensible demand:

Laura Ingraham: Halt All Immigration to U.S. During Coronavirus Crisis

Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham says the United States should halt all immigration during the coronavirus crisis.

Ingraham: Where is the moratorium?

On Wednesday, State Department officials confirmed to Breitbart News that the refugee resettlement program — which has resettled nearly 2,500 refugees in the last six weeks — would be suspended until at least April 7.

Likewise, a State Department official told Reuters that most visa services through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency would be suspended until further notice, though federal immigration officials have yet to clarify which visa programs will continue to bring foreign nationals to the U.S.

Ingraham suggested in a post online that the Trump administration should implement an immigration moratorium while trying to stop the coronavirus outbreak and as millions of Americans are forced to stay home from work. Many of those workers rely on hourly minimum wages and tips.

“All immigration to the US should be halted due to this national emergency — we sure as heck don’t need any foreign workers with millions of Americans on verge of losing their jobs,” Ingraham wrote, along with “#AmericaFirst.”

Continue reading here.

 

Editor’s note:  As RRW approaches its 13th birthday, there are over 10,000 posts archived here at Refugee Resettlement Watch. Unfortunately, it is just me here with no staff and so it has become virtually impossible to answer all of the basic questions that come into my e-mail inbox or to RRW’s facebook page every day. I don’t want to appear rude—I simply haven’t enough hours in the day.

Please take time to visit RRW (don’t just read posts in your e-mail) and use the search window in the right hand sidebar and see if you can find the information you need.  Also see my series that I wrote in recent months entitled Knowledge is Power which explains some basic principles of how Refugee Resettlement is carried out in the US.

And, lastly, I don’t write that much every day, so if you made a habit of reading my posts here on a daily basis, you would eventually catch on to what is happening because I do link back to previous posts as much as possible. LOL!  Thank you for helping me not go crazy!

UN Says the Refugee Flow has Stopped, Yet US Admits 182 Since Monday!

What the heck!  We have been admitting 400-500 a week recently and so it seems we are right on schedule if 182 arrived in the last three days.

***Update March 20*** Total since Monday is now 214, presume that is it until April 6th when they expect to resume the movement of third worlders to America. We will keep an eye on it!

See my post here  yesterday.

COVID-19 News: UN Suspends Refugee Travel; However, 69 New Refugees Arrived in US Since Monday

When I checked the Refugee Processing Center this morning I expected to see the number of new refugee arrivals stalled at 69, not more than doubled!

Of the 182 ‘new Americans’ arriving just this week, 124 are from the DR Congo.

Top ‘welcoming’ states are Texas, Massachusetts, Idaho, Tennessee and Georgia.

According to contractual arrangements with the State Department, workers and volunteers for resettlement ‘charities’ must meet the new arrivals at airports and get them settled in their new apartments and sign them up for myriad welfare and healthcare programs available to them.

Guess those do-gooders will be out and about while the rest of us are told to stay home!

 

 

 

COVID-19 News: UN Suspends Refugee Travel; However, 69 New Refugees Arrived in US Since Monday

The International Organization for Migration, a wing of the UN, announced refugee travel was being suspended. “This is a temporary measure that will be in place only for as long as it remains essential, ” said the IOM in a statement released yesterday.

I am still not seeing any official announcement from the US State Department and no commentary, so far, from the refugee contractors.  See below that 69 new refugee arrivals were ‘welcomed’ to America since Monday.

Here is IOM:

IOM, UNHCR announce temporary suspension of resettlement travel for refugees

If you see the distinctive IOM blue bags at the airport, it is a sure sign of refugee arrivals. IOM arranges the plane tickets that you, taxpayers, pay for!

Geneva – As countries drastically reduce entry into their territories owing to the COVID-19 global health crisis, and restrictions around international air travel are introduced, travel arrangements for resettling refugees are currently subject to severe disruptions. Some States have also placed a hold on resettlement arrivals given their public health situation, which impacts on their capacity to receive newly resettled refugees.

Refugee families are being directly impacted by these quickly evolving regulations in the course of their travel, with some experiencing extensive delays while others have been stranded or separated from family members.

In addition, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and IOM, the International Organization for Migration, are concerned that international travel could increase the exposure of refugees to the virus.

As a result, IOM and UNHCR are taking steps to suspend resettlement departures for refugees. This is a temporary measure that will be in place only for as long as it remains essential.

[….]

Both agencies look forward to resuming full resettlement travel as soon as prudence and logistics permit.

More here.

I decided to check to see if we were still seeing refugee arrivals since I reported, here, that as of a week ago, there was not a slowdown.

Here are the numbers this morning at the Refugee Processing Center from Monday (the 13th) to this morning.

We had 69 arrivals, 62 of those from the DR Congo.

In 2013, Anne Richard, Obama’s head honcho for refugees, told then UNHCR that we would ‘welcome’ 50,000 impoverished Congolese to America.

Just to review, in 2013 the Obama Administration told the UN that we we would take 50,000 needy people from the DR Congo over five years.

In 2020, we are at 60,880 and they are still coming in in large numbers.

In fact, since Trump took office we have admitted 32,000 from the DR Congo and distributed them throughout America.

Here is a map from the Refugee Processing Center showing where 69 refugees were placed since Monday.  62 hailed from the DR Congo (including the 13 who went to Idaho and 21 of 22 who were placed in Texas).

In addition to the 62 from the DR Congo, 3 refugees arrived from Iraq, 2 from Eritrea and one each from India and Somalia.

These numbers do not include the Special Immigrant Visa holders arriving from Afghanistan and Iraq and treated like refugees.  There is no daily breakdown that I know of for their arrival.  Make note that since October 1, 2019 to yesterday we admitted 6,867 special refugees from Afghanistan and 152 from Iraq.  Will check in a few days and see how the number changes.

 

Ohio: Refugee Agencies Scramble to Get COVID-19 Warnings to Those Who Don’t Speak English

“Advocates for immigrants and refugees say about 200 languages are spoken in the state.”

 

There are nearly 7,000 distinct languages in the world. Lucky Ohio has only 200! https://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/how-many-languages-are-there-world

Some refugees are in America for years and never learn to speak English, and indeed many arrive in America unable to read in their own language, so now refugee resettlement agencies are scrambling to get out instructions to immigrant communities while they close their own doors to avoid face to face contact with their “clients.”

So much for diversity bringing strength!

Here is a story explaining the problem in Ohio. It is from The Columbus Dispatch:

Language a barrier in getting coronavirus information to all

Those who don’t speak English may have trouble getting updates about what coronavirus is and its spread. Local and state immigrant and refugee advocates are working to get resources to people in the language they speak and read.

As many Americans try to absorb all the information they can on the coronavirus and its spread in Ohio, some are left out of the conversation entirely.

Advocates for immigrants and refugees say about 200 languages are spoken in the state, and many of those advocates are working to make sure the individuals who speak those languages can get information about the rapidly spreading virus in ways they can understand.

[….]

Advocates aren’t the only ones trying to make sure that everyone is reached.

The Ohio Department of Health is linking to CDC resources in other languages on its website, coronavirus.ohio.gov, spokeswoman Melanie Amato said. The agency is also reaching out to local organizations for translation resources and the Ohio Hispanic Coalition is working to translate press releases.

[….]

US Together is a Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society Subcontractor. https://www.ustogether.us

At US Together, a local refugee resettlement agency, staff members began being trained last week on how to prepare themselves and their clients for the virus, Emily Locke, a communications specialist with US Together, said in an email.

The training focused on what the virus is, how it spreads and which communities are vulnerable. They also addressed how to identify symptoms, prevent the virus and prepare food and supplies to deal with the outbreak.

On Monday, the resettlement agency closed its offices to the public and said its employees will work with clients by phone, email and other technology.  [So much for looking out for the newly arrived refugees!—ed]

More here.

By the way, yesterday I wondered if refugee agency volunteers were still meeting refugees at airports (new refugees were arriving up to last Thursday), but it sure looks like either the State Department has now wisely cut off the flow of new arrivals or those that do arrive are on their own!

Top Ten Languages spoken by refugees arriving in America.  

It’s been a long time since I reported on this information available at the Refugee Processing Center.  This is a good time to tell you about it.

Don’t forget!  According to a Clinton-era Executive Order your local and state governments are on the hook for the cost of interpreters.

(By the way, the growing cost of interpreter services, especially involving medical services, is something I never see calculated in any economic study of whether immigrants/refugees benefit the economy.)

 

 

Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken in East Africa.  Kinyarwanda is a Rwandan language. Sgaw Karen is a Burmese language.

For my recent posts on COVID-19 see that I have a tag for it.

 

Editor’s note:  As RRW approaches its 13th birthday, there are over 10,000 posts archived here at Refugee Resettlement Watch. Unfortunately, it is just me here with no staff and so it has become virtually impossible to answer all of the basic questions that come into my e-mail inbox or to RRW’s facebook page every day. I don’t want to appear rude—I simply haven’t enough hours in the day.

Please take time to visit RRW (don’t just read posts in your e-mail) and use the search window in the right hand sidebar and see if you can find the information you need.  Also see my series that I wrote in recent months entitled Knowledge is Power which explains some basic principles of how Refugee Resettlement is carried out in the US.

And, lastly, I don’t write that much every day, so if you made a habit of reading my posts here on a daily basis, you would eventually catch on to what is happening because I do link back to previous posts as much as possible. LOL!  Thank you for helping me not go crazy!