Rep. Pascrell: bring in 15,000 Syrians this year! http://apps.washingtonpost.com/politics/capitol-assets/member/william-pascrell/
Update February 4th: The PR push is on, Think Progress (Soros and Podesta) showcase another Syrian who got into the US, here.
Update: The New York Times did a feature story on this family a month ago. The well-connected savvy Muslim Syrian family is not what you picture as destitute, struggling refugees. They knew how to work the system!
And, NJ Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson is pushing for Obama to increase the 70,000 refugee goal for FY2014 by another 15,000 for Syrians.
PATERSON – When the onslaught of bombs grew too close to home, Abdulrazak Chacha and his family fled Aleppo, Syria, with nothing but the clothes on their backs and their passports.
They spent 45 days in Lebanon, trying without success to get to the United States where they had once lived and where they had relatives. Then they went to Cuba where they had planned a vacation and sought help at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, which accepted them as refugees after one year of screening.
[….]
Chacha, with his wife and four children, are among 108 Syrian refugees to have been resettled in the United States since the conflict began nearly three years ago, according to the State Department. Now, Syrian-Americans, some public officials and human-rights agencies are calling for the U.S. to take in more refugees from Syria, where war has led to one of the largest civilian exoduses in recent history.
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, met with family members Thursday to hear their story and to show support. He called for the United States to increase the number of refugees accepted for resettlement to at least 15,000 this year and to expedite the approval process. [By the way, it is my understanding that Obama does not need Congressional approval to expand the number in an ’emergency’, but if any reader knows otherwise, let us know!—ed]
“We’re not taking in refugees as we should,” said Pascrell, who wrote to President Obama on Jan. 16, asking that more Syrian refugees be allowed in.
Syrian refugees have faced roadblocks getting into the U.S. for a number of reasons, including security concerns, ongoing diplomatic efforts and the rapid escalation of war. The Obama administration agreed to take about 2,000 refugees in 2014, according to news reports.
Press conference January 22 in Tel Aviv http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/rights/last-days-freedom-african-migrants-israel
Here is the headline of a story about Israel’s problems with over 50,000 illegal African migrants in the country:
African Migrants In Israel Asked To Leave The Country — Or Report To A Detention Center
I thought, wow, they are getting serious. The headline left me with the impression that they were rounding ’em up by the tens of thousands.
Then this:
This month alone 1,700 African asylum seekers living in Israeli cities were ordered to report to the Holot facility, according to the Jerusalem Post. But very few have done so.
So, how many showed up at the detention center?
Only 26 African migrants arrive at detention facility as 30-day deadline expires
Israel is also offering a payment of $3,500 for any economic migrant willing to leave the country.
Dadaab: Going home to Somalia and to 44 industrialized countries around the world!
I don’t know what to make of this! While we are getting news that the UN is working toward closing the massive Somali refugee camp in Kenya (the Kenyan government doesn’t want them after the horrific mall attack), and “refugees” are returning to Somalia (here), the UN is also admonishing governments around the globe to take more Somali asylum seekers.
Asylum seeking Somali numbers are high! How many arrived in Malmo? Are they fearful, or just looking to be taken care of in the West?
More than 42,000 Somalis sought asylum in neighbouring countries and elsewhere in 2013.
Feeding into their fear, the UNHCR says don’t send them back to Somalia (while the UN scales back rations and sends them out of Kenya?), continued UNHCR at All Africa:
We are appealing to all states to uphold their international obligations with regard to no forced returns, or non-refoulement. Somali nationals should not be forcibly returned to Somalia unless the returning state is convinced that the persons involved would not be at risk of persecution.
[…..]
Between January and November 2013, 21,517 Somalis sought asylum in neighbouring countries. In addition, Somalis filed 20,600 asylum claims in 44 industrialized countries in 2013, compared to 18,701 claims in 2012.While more than 33,000 spontaneous returns were recorded between January and November 2013, many may not have been permanent. As of end 2012, the number of Somali refugees worldwide was 1.136 million.
If they all went back to Somalia (with the help of the UN!), al-Shabaab would not have a prayer of surviving against a million people encouraged and determined to re-build their country. The UN seems to be encouraging them to be fearful and expects “industrialized countries” to take care of them.
Nor are there jobs for your college graduate kids!
Just now as I turned off the TV, President Obama was being interviewed about how to create more jobs and yesterday the Republicans were announcing their plan to flood the job market with both uneducated and educated immigrants for their big business donor friends, yet here is a story from Maine boo-hooing about no jobs for educated refugees!
University of Southern Maine audience listens to plight of refugees who can’t find work!
From Maine Public Broadcasting Network. (Hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’) An Iraqi with a college degree from Iraq took part in panel discussion on jobs hosted by Catholic Charities of Maine among others. I guess there are no more struggling job-seekers among the Americans in Maine!
Portland resident Sarah Mahdi came to the U.S. with a college degree, but, like many immigrants, has had trouble getting it recognized in the U.S. It’s not an unusual problem. Maine educators and other service providers are now looking for ways to make it easier for educated immigrants to find suitable jobs or further their educational opportunities.
[…..]
“When I first came to the States I just wanted to study,” said Mahdi, who was among a handful of immigrant students sharing their experiences Wednesday night at a panel discussion in Portland. The panel was organized by the University of Southern Maine’s Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, and Catholic Charities Maine.
New Mainers Resource Center uses tax dollars to help immigrants prove they actually have a legitimate college degree.
One place immigrants can turn to is the newly-established New Mainers Resource Center, one of the several service providers on hand at Wednesday night’s event to offer advice. The center’s program co-ordinator, Sally Sutton, is talking to George Dakonsa, who arrived here from the Democratic Republic of Congo seeking asylum four months ago.
“I have a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance,” he says. “I’d like it if they can help me to evaluate.”
The center was recently opened by Portland Adult Education with the aim of specifically helping college-educated immigrants in their search for suitable employment or further education. Co-ordinator Sutton says with immigrants like Dakonsa come an opportunity to breathe new economic life into the state. [Would someone please explain exactly how they are breathing new economic life into the state!—ed]
That bad ‘ol Maine governor is at it again—-how dare he try to balance the state budget!
The New Mainers Resource Center, however, may end up being a short-lived venture. It’s meant to be a two-year pilot project funded at $75,000 a year.
But the program could be eliminated after its first year – just one small part of the nearly $34 million in spending cuts being recommended in a report commissioned by the LePage administration, looking for ways to balance the two-year budget.
Governor LePage needs to continue working on something else! Maine has become a go-to state for asylum seekers.
Check out this articlefrom The Free Press from earlier this month:
Maine has become known to many central African asylum seekers as a place where they can find community support as well as temporary financial assistance while they have their visas and work permits approved. Often they arrive on tourist or business visas, sometimes with forged documents.While many asylum seekers are well educated and come from financial means, the money doesn’t last long and many end up in homeless shelters while their applications are being processed.
Maine happens to be one of a handful of states that does not require proof of citizenship. All asylum seekers must show is that they are applying for asylum. Unlike official refugees, such as many in the Somali and Sudanese populations who are resettled in Maine by the U.S. State Department [and Catholic Charities—ed], asylum seekers do not qualify for any other state or federal benefits while they are applying for asylum. The whole asylum approval process can take from one to two years and it typically takes at least 150 days for asylum seekers to be eligible to legally work once approved for asylum.
One more thing….so much for the importance of educated refugees!
Reader ‘tomasrose’ sent us this comment to our earlier post about Bhutanese low-skilled laborers and the US State Department (as headhunters) bringing them in for businesses:
I spoke with a refugee from the middle east just last week and he confirmed, of course, refugees are coached in what to say to improve their chances at coming to the U.S.. One of the things he said is they hide any education they might have. If the U.S. thinks you are educated your chances of moving to the U.S. are lower. He cited an M.D. from Baghdad who told refugee officials he was a menial laborer and, presumably, would be happy to work the same jobs in the U.S.. Had he advertised his credentials as a doctor, he would have a better chance at going to one of the Scandinavian countries, but to get the U.S. he had to really dumb his resume down.
We have written a lot lately about Bhutanese refugees in America with a very high rate of suicide. Here is one story I’ve had kicking around from New Hampshire that I never got around to posting.
But, this was a big surprise to me. It seems that refugees left behind in camps in Nepal are also depressed and are developing serious mental illnesses. This is just a reminder to the do-gooders who think bringing refugees to the West and dropping them off in troubled city neighborhoods to work as cheap laborers is always an act of kindness, consider this news:
Though third-country resettlement of Bhutanese refugees has provided relief to many, the initiative has been the cause of pain for some.
Durga Devi Odari, who was once a lively, happy person, has been on medication for the past three years. Odari went into a state of depression when her parents were flown to the USA and her brother to New Zealand. Her dreams of settling abroad, for which she even divorced her husband, were shattered.
She can’t find her parents!
“I am not sure about finding my parents and I do not know if I will ever be able to find my loved ones,” said Durga.
Durga’s case is not an isolated one: many refugees awaiting resettlement are battling with depression. As the number of people in the camps decreases, depression is becoming a serious issue for those remaining.
Though the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation (TPO) has not officially confirmed the numbers of those with depression, mental disorders, and drug dependency inside the camps, the increase in activity of the TPO, which specialises in providing counselling services, has fuelled speculation that the number of those facing depression is increasing.
Refugees claim UN has separated families!
While the UNHCR has made assurances that they would not separate families without parental consent, some refugees claim that the UNHCR’s actions demonstrate otherwise.
The UNHCR has been working with TPO since 2008, two years after the initiation of the resettlement process.
According to Sanchahang Subba, Secretary of the Beldangi Camp, he receives hundreds of letters per day by those seeking the whereabouts of their loved ones.
How did we come to bring 70,000 Bhutanese to America?
In 2007: Ms Sauerbrey blamed the refugee leaders in the camps in Nepal for the “intimidation”.
We’ve been writing about this subject since 2007 when then Asst. Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey (a Bush appointee) announced the decision to help the UN clean out its camps for Bhutanese/Nepalese in Nepal. Here is one re-cap. Keep in mind the UN and our State Department were never in a hurry to clean out the Palestinian “refugee” camps.
Just now I was looking around further on the history of all of this and was reminded that camp leaders were furious when the third country resettlement began and I suspect the woman in our story above, who divorced her husband to try and be resettled with her parents, was probably married to a camp political leader. The leaders wanted to keep the pressure on Bhutan to take them back until we stepped in and brought tens of thousands of them to the US to work in meatpacking and other menial labor jobs.
Other than our need for cheap labor (and the contractors’ needs for refugee numbers because they are paid by the head!), what was our national interest in getting involved in a dispute involving Nepal and Bhutan?
The photo is from this BBC story where Sauerbrey said sending the Bhutanese to western countries (the US took the lion’s share) was all done for “humanitarian” reasons.
