Major fire in refugee camp in Nepal, thousands homeless

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

A fire of unknown origin raced through the closely packed huts of a refugee camp for Bhutanese refugees.   The UN is bringing tents for temporary housing to eastern Nepal.    We’ve written about the tense political situation in these camps—tense because some camp leaders do not want these ethnic Nepali refugees, who have been booted from Bhutan, scattered to the four winds.   By scattering the people around the world the political pressure is thus removed from Bhutan to repatriate this ethnic group. 

Sounds like Bhutan is attempting to keep Bhutan for the Bhutanese, just as Pat Buchanan pointed out the other day in his article entitled “The return of ethnic Nationalism.”

One hundred thousand are in the pipeline to be resettled in the West or to Australia.   The US has promised to take 60,000 over the next few years.

Around 107,000 refugees of ethnic Nepalese origin from Bhutan have been living in UN-run camps in Nepal since the early 1990s when Bhutan’s government launched cultural reforms encouraging the use of the local language and dress.

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Between 1991 and 1993 tens of thousands of Bhutanese crossed a narrow strip of India’s West Bengal state, and have been living ever since in temporary camps close to Nepal’s border with India.

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The United Nations International Office of Migration has started the process of resettling tens of thousands of the refugees, with the United States offering to take 60,000 people.

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Around 23,000 people have registered for resettlement, but tensions have risen in the seven UN-run camps because some want to be allowed to return to the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, where many still have land and businesses.

I’m guessing the resettlement will be stepped up as a result of the fire.   Read the rest of the story here.

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.

What did I tell you, AP reporter only a few hours late

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Two hours and fifty four minutes ago (about 17 hours into the first day of March), AP reporter Matthew Lee filed his monthly story on the Iraqi refugee numbers for February.  I was only joking this morning and didn’t really expect  to see the same story—with a slight twist—right on cue.   The story still bashes the Bush Administration but he reports that the numbers have actually gone up a little, still falling way short of the numbers needed to reach the magic 12, 000 Iraqi refugees by Sept.30, 2008.

WASHINGTON – The number of Iraqi refugees admitted to the United States rose slightly for the second month in a row, although the Bush administration still will struggle to meet its target of 12,000 by the end of September.

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The State Department said Saturday that 444 Iraqi refugees entered the country in February. That puts total admissions for the current budget year, which began Oct. 1, at 1,876 and leaves the administration seven months to admit 10,124 to reach its goal.

Get ready for thousands to begin arriving in May because as Matthew never fails to remind us we have a moral obligation to bring them here to put them to work cleaning motels and receiving taxpayer-funded welfare.  (No, he doesn’t really say that last part!)

“We think the turning point will come by May,” Foley [State Dept] said, noting that there are thousands of refugee interviews scheduled this month and next.

Opening minds and cultivating a world view

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

According to a news report from Harrisonburg, VA, a college in the Shenandoah Valley is conducting a class for students that will open their minds (suggesting they are closed now) about the value of immigration.   You know, gotta get those young minds early.

Bridgewater College students are learning about immigration in the Shenandoah Valley through a “field-based” course, studying immigration history and policy in class and visiting museums, Ethiopian and Indian restaurants, a mosque and a Russian Baptist Church.

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“I want to show them how immigrants have shaped the character of the Shenandoah Valley over the years,” said Lisa Porter, the Bridgewater professor leading the class. “It’s problematic when people are exposed to immigration solely through the media.”

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“We want to begin a conversation in the community,” she said. “That’s how phobias and stereotypes are dismantled.”

Students said they didn’t know until they took this class how much other cultures were bringing to our culture.  The reporter then launches into a discussion about a visit to an Indian restaurant.  Now who doesn’t like a good curry once in awhile.

But, it makes me wonder if the class also tells about some of the bad things other cultures bring, like female genital mutilation, polygamy, and honor killings. 

Harrisonburg, VA must be “welcoming” because it’s been an important refugee resettlement site for groups like Virginia Council of Churches.