No break for NH as feds approve just short of 500 new refugees for the state

06/06/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We have a huge archive on the problems in Manchester, NH with refugee overload and the mayor’s efforts there to get the flow under control, please click here for dozens of posts on the city whose school system struggles with over 80 languages spoken within its student body.

Barbara Seebert — Barbara Seebart (left) made the announcement for the state of NH. Here we are told NH usually only gets about 200 refugees (huh?) a year and likely no Syrians. https://www.nhbar.org/publications/display-news-issue.asp?id=8085

The numbers for the new fiscal year (to begin on September 30th) were published here on Saturday. Manchester, Concord and Nashua will be ‘welcoming’ a total of about 500 refugees selected by the UN and the US State Department.
Citizens concerned in those three cities should be demanding that your elected officials get a copy of the R & P Abstract (a planning document)*** that the resettlement contractors working in the state have produced.
The document (usually kept secret) should be made public, but I’ll bet the agencies have never even mentioned that document to the mayors and councils in the three cities.

According to figures provided by Seebart, the predominant countries of origin for the projected new arrivals for both Ascentria Community Services (formerly Lutheran Social Services) and the International Institute of New Hampshire (IINH) are Bhutan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Iraq. The proposed resettlement sites are Manchester, Concord and Nashua. [You will get Syrian Muslims in NH!—ed]

The International Institute of New Hampshire’s proposed caseload is for 225 individuals – 170 individuals or 25-35 families in Manchester, and 55 individuals or 10-15 families in Nashua.

Ascentria Community Service’s proposed caseload is 270 individuals: 135 individuals or 30-35 families in Concord, and 135 individuals or 30-35 families in Nashua.

When that photo was taken in 2015, someone got it wrong. NH didn’t take 200 refugees in fiscal year 2015, but 446 according to the US State Department’s own data.
Checking that data just now I see that Manchester got 120 refugees from 9 different countries in FY2015, so for FY 2017 they will be upping that number by 50. (Since we are still in about the middle of FY2016 I didn’t bother checking this year).
*** See Reno, Nevada’s R & P Abstract here to get an idea of what information this document contains. Reno’s primary resettlement contractor, USCRI, is the same one operating through its subcontractor, the International Institute of NH, in New Hampshire.

Concord, NH: Bhutanese refugees' religious ceremony draws neighbors' ire

10/17/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I’m running out of time this morning after writing so much about Allentown, PA, but want to get a few more things posted before I have to move on to other of life’s duties.

Over a week ago a large gathering of Bhutanese refugees disturbed a quiet Concord neighborhood with chanting, large numbers of people and traffic. The original story is here at the Concord Monitor. One resident put a “GO HOME” sign in a window.

That story was followed by an apology of sorts from one of the Bhutanese refugees involved. But interestingly he blamed the federal refugee contractor for not giving the former UN camp residents, the Hindu Bhutanese, a sufficient cultural orientation.
For new readers, we have now resettled over 80,000 Bhutanese refugees from camps in Nepal (they are really Nepali people that Nepal didn’t want back once they were expelled from Bhutan). The UN wanted to clean out the camps (the plan was very controversial because many did not want to be “scattered to the four winds” as they said at the time).

bhutansa — People ask me all the time—who are these Bhutanese? Here is a map of Bhutan and Nepal. The so-called Bhutanese refugees were living for 20 years or so in UN camps in Nepal. The UN wanted to clean out the camps so we said o.k. and now more than 80,000 are scattered throughout America. They are not Muslims. http://www.oocities.org/bhutaneserefugees/refugeecampmap.html

The Bush Administration decision to resettle 60,000 in the US was made by former Maryland candidate for Governor Ellen Sauerbrey who was the Bush Asst. Sec. of State for PRM. As I said, we are now up to 80,000 and they are still coming.
Don’t forget readers that the Refugee Admissions Program is 35 years old and Republicans like George W. Bush enthusiastically helped this migration of third worlders to America.
We have a very lengthy archive on the Bhutanese resettlement going back to 2007, learn more by clicking here. Pay attention to stories about the high suicide rate of the Bhutanese people in America.
So back to the Concord news. This is PRAJA SHAPKOTA writing a sort-of apology for the disruption in the neighborhood, here (see photo!).

I feel concerned with the discontentment generated due to the religious ceremony in the Heights neighborhood of Concord (Monitor front page, Oct. 7).

As a member of the community in Upstate New York, I wish to express my personal viewpoints with some background information.

We the Bhutanese people of Nepali ethnicity have come to the United States after persecution and eviction by the absolute monarchy of Bhutan from 1985 to 1995. We have spent more than 18 years in crowded refugee camps of Nepal in uncertainty when Nepal was undergoing political metamorphism.

The refugee camps strengthened family and neighborly bonds with higher interpersonal interactions, which has become a community culture. What we see and do shapes our ways of life – our very culture.

We primarily follow the Hindu traditions, and for a family a lengthy religious function is once or twice in a generation. In case of Rudra Timsina, the function was a way of sharing joy with the community after buying a house – the achievement of a dream. Most invitees attend the discourses and cultural activities at least once in seven days as this is also a method to socialize among people with cultural and language barriers.

Such people constitute more than 50 percent in our community – illiterate in English and unaware of the American culture and traditions. We have never lived with people of totally different culture. Hence, this is a case of “conflict of culture and outlook” and not a conflict of community.

[….]

….in my opinion, the resettlement agencies with local community organizations should initiate at least a month of group orientation on the various aspects of American culture, such that a “conflict of culture” can be lessened.

I’ve had complaints from some of our readers about the large number of Bhutanese refugees in their communities. At least this writer is sensitive to the disruption created in this Concord situation.

Who is bringing the Bhutanese to Concord?

Go here to the handy list, and see that three federal refugee contractors are dividing up the pie in the same office in Concord (Church World Service, Episcopal Migration Ministries and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service). Manchester, NH has been overloaded so now it looks like they are busy little beavers colonizing Concord.

Concord (NH) Monitor: “Communities have little say about the amount of refugees they receive”

04/01/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I repeat! Communities have little say about the amount of refugees they receive….

Update April 2nd: I’m told that Drudge posted this Concord Monitor story yesterday which says to me that the whole refugee issue and its impact on communities is starting to be noticed at a national level!

That is the headline of a piece that ran on Sunday in Concord, NH which is starting to feel the pain of increasing numbers of refugees being deposited there by the former Lutheran Social Service of New England (renamed Ascentria Care Alliance, why did they dump the word “Lutheran?”) and the US State Department.

For years the city of Manchester, NH has been swamped with refugees (over 80 languages in the school system) and the Mayor has tried to get the flow slowed. The flow has only been slowed slightly as the contractor’s focus has shifted to neighboring cities in New Hampshire, like Concord!

So, anyone just getting started with your own “welcoming” refugee resettlement program (Spartanburg!) pay attention!

From the Concord Monitor:

The federal resettlement program began 35 years ago, and today includes some 190 sites across the country.

In New Hampshire, four cities – Nashua, Manchester, Laconia and Concord – take in refugees, but the numbers are not evenly distributed. Nationally, nearly 70,000 refugees immigrated to the U.S. in the last fiscal year; 373 of those came to New Hampshire, and 189 of those came to Concord.

The city of Concord has minimal say, and minimal official responsibilities, over refugee resettlement. [Local elected officials will bear the brunt of public ire when the availability of subsidized housing declines, the schools are overloaded and the health department is swamped!—ed]

State and resettlement officials will typically share the information they receive about resettlement projections with local officials. [That is not always the case!—ed]

Concord, in turn, has an opportunity to provide some input on those projections. But as decisions are being made about how many new refugees will resettle here, there’s rarely a discussion – with Concord officials, at least – about the current status of the local economy and what kind of resources are available, according to City Manager Tom Aspell.

Below, when they say “states can comment,” they don’t mean elected state officials, they mean the state refugee coordinator who is ideologically in tune with the US State Department and the federal contractors working in the state and will not likely stand up to the contractors on behalf of an overloaded town or city!

The national refugee resettlement program runs as a partnership between the federal government and nine private resettlement agencies. Ascentria Care Alliance, which oversees resettlement in Concord, is a subsidiary of three of those private agencies.

Each year, the State Department announces resettlement projections for the coming fiscal year. States can then comment on those, raising concerns or requesting changes.

Barbara Seebart, New Hampshire’s refugee coordinator, said she regularly meets with school officials, health care workers, social service providers, state partners, volunteers, ESL teachers and local resettlement agencies to gather feedback.

She gathers feedback, big deal, does she ever stop the flow to New Hampshire?

Readers concerned about your state should make a point of contacting your state coordinator.

I suggest you be polite, uncritical, and find out as much as you can from the coordinators about what is going on in your state. BTW, the state coordinator knows how many new refugees are destined for your state and where they will be coming from.

Click here for the list of state coordinators! And, go here, for the list of sub-contractors working to seed your towns with third worlders!

Letter: Why aren’t we taking care of our own poor people first?

01/12/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

If there is one question people new to the whole refugee process in America ask, it is that sensible, logical question. Below is a letter to the editor from the New Hampshire Concord Monitor from someone who is apparently helping the homeless with a true charitable spirit and not as a paid refugee resettlement contractor.

Veteran homelessness explodes in NH: http://dailycaller.com/2014/12/15/report-veteran-homelessness-explodes-in-new-hampshire/

Hat tip: ‘Pungentpeppers’ (emphasis below is mine).

To the editor:

We have been avidly following the series of articles on the homeless population in Concord.

Living in close proximity and volunteering within the community serving both the homeless and the refugees, it has become sadly apparent that our homeless population consists predominantly of American citizens. Many of them veterans and many without benefits.

Without a valid address or residence, one does not qualify within our system for food stamps or assistance. Why is it that we seem to continue to encourage and subsidize the constant influx of immigrants and refugees for whom we seem to always find living and housing accommodations for? Our food pantries are overwhelmed, supplies are diminished and dwindling.

Thank heavens for our local churches for stepping up to the plate, and providing both food and warm, safe shelter to our most needy, particularly during our cold and harsh winters.

As we continue to not only exist, work and volunteer within the capital city of Concord, we wonder why it is disturbingly apparent and profoundly troubling that the homeless population consists of American citizens.

We have yet to see a refugee sleeping in a tent or under the railroad tracks. Why is that?

EDDIE TORRES

Concord

Concord is a federal “preferred community” for refugee resettlement. I bet most Concord residents did not know they merited that distinction!

Readers ask me all the time what they can do, this is one thing that is easy enough and you should do it while we still have free speech in America—write letters to the editor!

Concord, NH: Former refugee sentenced to ten years in genocide case, then will be deported

07/15/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Can you believe it, she lied to get into the US as a refugee! I’m just shocked!

This is the case (perhaps the end of the many cases) of Beatrice Munyenyezi a refugee from Rwanda resettled in NH who it turns out was involved in the Hutu slaughter of Tutsis in her native Rwanda.

Beatrice-Munyenyezi

Here are our previous reports on the case(s). Although its not mentioned in today’s story, this was reported in the article I posted on in April 2012 (trial cost millions!):

Two witnesses testified she killed people, including a nun, shooting the nun herself after ordering her to be raped.

And here is the latest news on the sentencing from the Huffington Post (hat tip: Michael):

CONCORD, N.H. — A federal judge on Monday sentenced a New Hampshire woman to the maximum 10 years in prison for lying about her role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide, saying the United States cannot be a haven for those who slaughter out of hatred and ignorance.

Rwanda native Beatrice Munyenyezi declined her right to address the court after U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe imposed her sentence.

Munyenyezi, 43, was convicted in February of entering the United States and securing citizenship by lying about her role as a commander of one of the notorious roadblocks where Tutsis were singled out for slaughter. She also denied affiliation with any political party, despite her husband’s leadership role in the extremist Hutu militia party.

“She was not a mere spectator,” McAuliffe said. “I find this defendant was actively involved, actively participated, in the mass killing of men, women and children simply because they were Tutsis.”

McAuliffe acknowledged she has led a crime-free and productive life since her arrival in New Hampshire in 1998 but said it was a life lived under false pretenses. [Really! Read on below!—ed]

[….]

McAuliffe said she effectively stole a citizenship slot away from a deserving refugee, possibly one who also had daughters and was a victim of violence and persecution. Munyenyezi took the oath of citizenship a decade ago in the very same courthouse where she was sentenced. McAuliffe stripped her of that citizenship when she was convicted.

Why should US taxpayers take care of her in prison for ten years if she is going to be deported—just deport her now!

Federal prosecutors had sought the maximum prison sentence, saying she’s as guilty as if she wielded the machete herself.

[….]

Once Munyenyezi serves her prison sentence, she could be deported to Rwanda – a fate her lawyers said would be tantamount to a death sentence.

She flat-out lied!

Prosecutors maintained that she was a liar who “gamed” the immigration system to fraudulently obtain the “golden ticket” of citizenship. She swore on immigration and naturalization forms that she persecuted no one, had no affiliation with any political party and even cast herself as a victim of the genocide by saying family members “disappeared.”

They didn’t disappear in the way you might think.

Munyenyezi’s husband, Arsene Shalom Ntahobali and his mother were convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes of violence and are serving life sentences. [Presumably in Rwanda and not at US taxpayer expense!—ed]

[….]

Munyenyezi’s sister was convicted last summer in Boston on charges of fraudulently obtaining a visa to enter the United States by lying about her own Hutu political party affiliations.

The judge did say (above) that Munyenyezi had a “productive life” in the US. How productive?

Before long, she had a $13-an-hour job working for the city’s housing authority. Her children were enrolled in Catholic school and she attended college and earned an associate’s degree. She financed a comfortable lifestyle through mortgages, loans and credit cards – only to file for bankruptcy in 2008 and have about $400,000 in debt discharged.

The next time someone assures you that refugees are thoroughly screened before entering the US, don’t believe it! And, ask them exactly why is it the responsibility of America to get involved in these civil wars in the first place by bringing some of the participants to your towns and cities! Or, have we run out of destitute Americans who need help?

Photo: Beatrice walked free (temporarily) from the Court House in 2012. To her left is her sister who was convicted of immigration fraud. The woman ‘of the cloth’ in pink is not identified. Concord Monitor photo.