Category: Who is going where

Report from North Carolina gives us inside look at refugee resettlement there

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Your tax dollars!

North Carolina is one of the country’s leading refugee resettlement states (and one of its leading illegal alien-populated states), here.

Also, in 2010, refugee contractors were criticized and shut-down by the State Department for poor handling of the large refugee load being placed there.  Here is the third of three posts in which we chronicled the problems there.

Today’s post is about Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency a subcontractor of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.  I’m guessing CRRA picked up more of the refugee load in NC after the Lutherans got the boot over in the Triad region of the state.  However, this interview gives us a little idea of how the program is operating there now (after a long introduction to help set the mood for readers).

From WFAE-Charlotte and reporter Briana Duggan (No debate about refugees! Really?):

Reporter Duggan: bipartisan support for refugees

There’s a lot of debate surrounding immigration, but there is one kind of immigration that receives bipartisan support– that of refugees. More than 2,000 refugees resettled in North Carolina last year. We often hear about what refugees have to leave behind – war and persecution – but what is waiting for refugees when they get here?

I don’t know why a radio reporter is interviewing another reporter and not the resettlement agency itself, but here is the exchange I found interesting (emphasis is mine):

Briana Duggan joined Morning Edition Host Marshall Terry to talk more about refugee resettlement.

TERRY: Briana, we just met a family of refugees the moment they arrived. What are the next steps for refugees after they land?

DUGGAN: Well, a resettlement caseworker – like Rebecca in the story – signs them up for social services. So that’s food stamps, whatever cash or medical assistance they’re eligible for, enroll any children in school. [This made me laugh, remember Rand Paul said their job was to bring’em in and sign them up for welfare and took a lot of criticism for saying it, here—ed]

And then, there’s finding a job – with help from refugee resettlement agencies. There are two in Charlotte, and they told me it takes refugees around here about three to four months to find a job.  [“Later, many refugees will find physical work, often at a poultry plant or greenhouse “(Duggan earlier in the article)—those meat packers again!—ed]

TERRY: And you said refugees get welcome money from the federal government.  What does that pay for?

DUGGAN: Yeah, so the welcome money is about a $1,000 per person. And it’s meant to cover the basics while refugees are looking for those jobs. So rent, utilities, deposits, a bit of food.  [The resettlement contractor actually gets $1850 per refugee with CRRA and HIAS taking their cuts—ed]

TERRY: A thousand dollars—for the three to four months it takes to get a job? That couldn’t cover rent alone.

DUGGAN: Right, but you have to remember that most refugees do arrive in families. So, for example- Khup Than Lun who was in my story – she came to the U.S. with a family of five, so that comes out to be $5,000. If they run out of money before they find a job, they’ll get welfare cash assistance. And it’s also important to note that many refugees come to Charlotte because they have family or close friends here. So they may live with their sponsors while they get on their feet.

TERRY: But what about those refugees that come alone?

DUGGAN: That is more complicated. It’s not all that common, but in that case, resettlement agencies have to dip into any donations or extra funds they may have. Agencies will sometimes group together single refugees from the same country to save on rent. But ultimately, it means that those single refugees will need to be quicker on their feet when they arrive to their new country.

Click here for our North Carolina archive.

Someone dares to say it: rich Muslim countries should take their share of refugees!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Related Update July 31:  Abbott beware, three of Obama’s “brains” arriving to help Rudd get re-elected, here.

Australia is awash with boat people mostly from Muslim countries like Afghanistan.  What to do with them is really a pivotal issue in upcoming elections.  Here in The Australian’s “Talking Points” section are two suggestions.

Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott

WRITING about the influx of illegal immigrants across the southern border of the US, columnist Michelle Malkin bluntly referred to it as an invasion. That is what Australia is experiencing now, and Tony Abbott is right in planning to put a top general in charge.

One solution to the problem of asylum-seekers is to airlift them to the nearest UN refugee camp where they can take their turn in line with all those who have been waiting.

At the same time, Australia should request wealthy and stable Muslim countries to take their share of those fleeing from violence. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Gulf Emirates are wealthy and stable and import large numbers of workers. They should be expected to take their share.

I don’t know about Qatar and the Gulf Emirates, but Saudi Arabia takes no refugees.  In fact there were many reports about the Saudi’s immediately sending Somalis, who were caught in SA, back to Mogadishu when it was controlled by the terrorists.  The UNHCR is skittish, to say the least, about pressuring the ethnic nationalist Saudis.

Update:  A reader just reminded me of a post I wrote in April about the UAE passing off their illegal immigrants to the US.

Way back in 2007, when Muslim refugees were being brought to the county where I live by the Virginia Council of Churches, I remember former Congressman Roscoe Bartlett asking logically ‘why aren’t they going to Saudi Arabia?’  Why of course, excellent idea!

Always remember, this is not about the poor and downtrodden (that is the pretense!), it is about Al Hijra!

Let me know if you are having trouble viewing the photo—it just disappeared for me.

Analyst: Europe unprepared for potential large scale exodus from Egypt

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Writing at World Review, economic analyst Bernard Siman asks whether Europe could handle a new wave of “refugees” escaping Egypt this time.

Greece and Cyprus are the closest European countries to Egypt in Africa.

There has been little, if any, public discussion of possible scenarios, let alone serious crisis planning, whether politically, economically, administratively or militarily.

This is potentially a huge scale multi-dimensional problem.

Egypt’s 82.5 million population is separated from the Schengen area’s most eastern point of entry at Cyprus by 500 kilometres of Mediterranean Sea.

Any mass population movement fleeing Egypt’s violence – and in extremis civil war – will potentially be a game-changer at a time of serious and combined financial and economic crisis across Europe.

Austerity, deep financial cuts, widespread and vocal populist discontent about multiculturalism and immigration are affecting the eurozone and Cyprus and Greece in particular – the two Schengen members closest to the north Egyptian coast.

It is hard to say whether any naval crisis-planning exists to deal with such a sudden mass influx of Egyptian boat-people in the eastern Mediterranean.

Civil War in Egypt?

Egypt is descending into prolonged instability at best and civil war at worst. Both are likely to lead to increased migration through normal individual arrangements or mass exits.

The impact will not just be Europe’s to suffer….

See all of our posts on Malta (and Italy) going back almost 6 years and the problems they face with migrants arriving from Libya to get an idea of what Cyprus and Greece might face.  The US State Department has already set a dangerous precedent by transforming Malta’s illegal alien Africans into refugees being resettled now in your cities.  What is to stop them doing the same for (Muslim Brotherhood???) Egyptians arriving on Cyprus?

Egypt: Black African refugees claim UN treats Arab refugees better

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

There is nothing new that we haven’t written about here at RRW in recent years, but it’s a short and handy reminder of what is happening in Africa and the Middle East and some new readers may not know that black Africans, even the ones who are Muslim, are not liked by Arabs.

Fences make good neighbors! Israel built a border fence along its Egyptian border. Photo by Eliyahu Hershkovitz at Haaretz

From Israel News Service:

Black African refugees in Egypt are frustrated by ongoing racism and discrimination, particularly as they witness the assistance given to Arab refugees, the pan-Arab Aljazeera network reports.

Sources told the network that they have few rights in Egypt. “Even if you’re a recognized refugee, and you have a blue card, you have no right to medical treatment, no right to education, no right to work,” NGO programmer Christopher Eades explained.

Aid worker and refugee Yagoub Hamdan told Aljazeera, “When there was an influx of African refugees, there was no attention from the NGOs.” But when Syrian refugees began to arrive, he said, the United Nations took notice, and built camps for them.

So, the Africans went to Israel in large numbers (see our category on Israel and refugees) until they wore out their welcome and Israel built a border fence.

In recent years, African Muslim refugees in Egypt increasingly began fleeing to Israel, which provides illegal entrants with several social services. High crime among Sudanese and Eritrean migrants, particularly high-profile incidents of violent rape and anti-Semitism, led to a backlash against Israeli policy.

In recent months  the government completed a border fence that has contributed to a massive drop in illegal entry from Egypt.

Note to Obama:  It can be done!

Update from Australia: Opposition leader says Rudd asylum plan a “fake”

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

In our previous post earlier today we reported that Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has signed a plan with Papua New Guinea to take Australia’s boat people/illegal aliens off their hands.  The next logical question is:  ALL OF THEM?

Australian opposition leader, Tony Abbott, says that is where Rudd’s action becomes a political ploy to buy time until the next election.  PNG can’t possibly take them all.

Abbott suggests reading the fine print in an article ominously entitled: Nations to get asylum call!  My first thought was, uh-oh, since the US has already shown its willingness to take over one thousand mostly Muslim Africans who arrived on Malta (illegally) by boat, what is to stop the US State Department from ‘lending a hand’ to Rudd’s Labor party?

Here is the story in The West Australian:

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the so-called PNG solution was a “fake”.

He said the Prime Minister’s assertion that everyone who came to Australia by boat would now be sent to PNG was not borne out by the two-page document signed by Mr Rudd and Mr O’Neill.

“This is not a solution to our problem,” Mr Abbott said. “This is not a policy to stop the boats. This is simply a pre-election fix. This is simply something that is held together with Blu-Tack and Sellotape to last until the election.

“Mr Rudd has been misleading to the point of dishonesty.”

Shadow immigration minister Scott Morrison said PNG’s Prime Minister had made it clear that the country would not take an unlimited number of asylum seekers, despite Labor claims to the contrary.

Now this makes some sense, of course PNG doesn’t want the diseased, the criminals or the terrorists!

Mr Morrison said those found not to be refugees would become Australia’s problem, as would asylum seekers with communicable diseases, terrorism charges or a criminal background.

“The devil is always in the detail with Mr Rudd, and Mr Rudd always proves to be the devil in that detail,” Mr Morrison said.

Immigration Minister Tony Burke said every cohort of asylum seekers, including unaccompanied minors, women and children, would be sent to PNG when Manus Island welfare standards were improved.

The article lists other countries which may get the call from Rudd, but no mention (so far!) of Obama getting a call!

Come to think of it, I wouldn’t put it past these pols to have a plan to send some to PNG and that’s where the US State Department would pick them up to resettle in your town.

****Update**** More on the growing controversy from the Voice of America.  Nothing yet on the US giving a helping hand, but if you see it before I do, please let me know!

Update July 23:  Jesuit Refugee Services blasts (no surprise) Rudd saying PNG too poor to handle all the needy refugees on the way.