Category: Who is going where

Big bunch of refugees expected in Atlanta

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

According to this article last week in a Catholic Bulletin, the Atlanta area can expect to receive hundreds more refugees beginning this month, some from Vietnam (Hat tip:  Brenda Walker).  I don’t know why we are again bringing refugees from Vietnam since the country is now described as an “economic powerhouse” in Asia, and Vietnamese can apply to come to the US through normal immigration channels.   The refugee program pays airfare and gives refugees money and a caseworker at taxpayer expense, while normal immigrants must make it on their own.

ATLANTA—Catholic Charities Atlanta is resettling nearly twice as many refugees this year as compared to 2006.

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Those who are coming are natives of Burma and Vietnam.

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And the increase in refugees is not a one-time event, McBrayer [director of refugee resettlement for Catholic Charities] said.

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“We expect next calendar year to be even bigger,” she said.

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The Catholic Church operates the largest refugee resettlement program in the country. About 11,250 refugees were welcomed to this country in 2006, the most recent figures available, according to the Migration & Refugee Services office of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Thomas Allen at VDARE asked (and answered) this question last summer,  why Vietnam 30 years after the war?

Judy posted  last week about how well the Vietnamese have done in America, however, this is not 1975 and their country is definitely on the rebound.  The bright energetic reformers should be left in Vietnam now to help rebuild, not brought to America to clean motels or work in factories. 

Refugees from Darfur in Ft. Wayne, IN

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Not only is Ft. Wayne, IN home to the largest population of Burmese Karen refugees in the US it is also home to refugees from Darfur.   I didn’t know that and as a matter of fact this article in the Journal Gazette today is the first mention I’ve seen of refugees from the Darfur region anywhere in the US.

Mastora Bakhiet’s family was forced to flee their home in 1996, after Arabs in her Darfur province threatened to kill everyone in her tribe.

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Six years later, after a journey that took her throughout Sudan and the Arabian Peninsula, her family won the U.S. green card lottery and eventually settled in Fort Wayne.

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Back in Darfur, members of Bakhiet’s non-Arab tribe, the Zaghawa, are not so lucky. They live in fear of attacks by the Janjaweed, the Sudanese government-backed Arab militia.

I’ve been confused about the political situation in the Sudan and this article actually helped clear up some of that confusion — mostly because it’s the first I’ve read that so explicitly blames the trouble there on “Arabs.”  So, help me clarify something else.    Why do American leftists want American troops to fight militant Muslims (the Janjaweed)  in this region of Africa but then condemn the Bush Administration for fighting militant Muslims elsewhere?

BTW, searching around just now I learned that we have given nearly $3 billion (that is with a ‘b’) to Sudan and eastern Chad just since 2004.   Wow, that must really put us up on the compassion meter!

Bhutanese on the way! For real this time

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Stories abound this week about the first Bhutanese refugees leaving camps in Nepal and headed west and to New Zealand.  We have written several stories about this large group over many months, but it looks like they are really on the way now. 

KATHMANDU (AFP) – The first of more than 100,000 Bhutanese refugees languishing in camps in southern Nepal for more than 15 years have begun to leave for overseas resettlement, officials said Monday.

A UN represenative said this about the first to leave:

“….some people will leave Monday and we would like to see between 40 to 60 people leave in the next two weeks, to Denmark, Canada, Norway, the United States and New Zealand.”

But, then went on to say the larger numbers will be leaving for the US at the end of the month.   We committed to 60,000!

In October 2006, the United States offered to take some 60,000 of the 107,000 refugees who live in seven camps in southern Nepal, and around 23,000 refugees have since applied.

Somalis to Sioux City, Iowa: here we come!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Emporia Gazette reported Friday in a farewell article about Emporia, KS Ayan Cafe closing that a large number of the Somalis are moving on to Sioux City, Iowa.  Hat tip: create

Jama [Mohamed, owner of now closed cafe] said about 250 members of the local Somali community were moving to Sioux City. An estimated 750 Somalis lived in Emporia.

We wrote about the Somalis not showing up at a farewell dinner a few weeks ago here.

If you are interested in reading our entire category (28 posts!) on the controversy in Emporia, KS beginning when Tyson’s food initially enticed large numbers of Somali refugees to settle there and then subsequently pulled the plug on their employment go here.

More refugees headed to Worcester, MA

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Because Boston is getting too expensive,   Worcester, MA will be getting increased numbers of refugees according to this article in the Telegram.

The organization [Worcester’s Refugee and Immigrant Assistance Center] helped 100 refugees find housing and jobs in Worcester last year, with the majority of families coming from Burma, Burundi and Somalia.

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Because of rising housing costs in the Boston area, Worcester is becoming an increasingly popular resettlement area for refugees, leaving agencies looking for more support from Mr. Chacon’s office.

Who is Mr Chacon?

Mr. Chacon, a former journalist and the son of Mexican immigrants, was appointed to the position [Dir, Mass. Office of Refugees and Immigrants] last year, after helping run the campaign of Gov. Deval L. Patrick.

He likes public forums and so do we.  We think that citizens in every city receiving refugees should have an opportunity to ask questions and express opinions on the topic.

Mr. Chacon hopes to organize a forum at some point during the year for agencies that work with refugees in the Worcester area.

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“We need to have a lot of activity in this city,” he said. “We need to convene and figure out the best way to support these people.”

If you have the stamina you can read about our public forum in Hagerstown, MD in our category called September forum here.

I have an idea for Mr. Chacon and the Governor, maybe they could resettle a few hundred refugees in Hyannisport since Massachusetts Senator Kennedy is the original sponsor of the Refugee Act of 1980.