I think this is probably the same report we have mentioned previously, but since we have so many new readers lately and a lot of recent news on Bhutanese (Nepalese) refugees, it’s best to repeat it rather than to have some readers not know about it.
Bhutanese refugees in Atlanta.
For several reasons, mostly joblessness and family stress over money, Bhutanese refugees are killing themselves at higher rates than most people in the world. Tell me again why we are going to legalize 11 million illegal aliens and bring in more immigrants when legal refugees can’t find work? And, why are resettlement agencies actually lobbying for more job competition for their own refugees?
During the period February 2009–February 2012, the Office of Refugee Resettlement of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported 16 suicides among the approximately 57,000 Bhutanese refugees who had resettled in the United States since 2008. In 2012, the office requested assistance from CDC and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Refugee Health Technical Assistance Center to identify risk factors that might be associated with suicidal ideation among Bhutanese refugees. In collaboration with the Massachusetts refugee health center, CDC conducted a survey of randomly selected Bhutanese refugees in four U.S. states with large populations of resettled refugees*. The results indicated significant associations between ever having expressed suicidal ideation and current self-reported symptoms of mental health disorder (e.g., anxiety, depression, or posttraumatic stress disorder) and postmigration difficulties (e.g., family conflict or inability to find work). The findings highlight the need for development of culturally appropriate community-based interventions for suicide prevention and standard procedures for monitoring and reporting suicides and suicide attempts in the Bhutanese refugee population.
They killed themselves in Nepal at a pretty high rate too (must be something in their culture, or, LOL! in their genetic makeup?)
….the annual suicide rate among Bhutanese refugees resettled in the United States was calculated by investigators as 21.5 per 100,000; the age-adjusted suicide rate using the U.S. 2000 population as the standard was 24.4 per 100,000. Both estimates were higher than the estimated annual global suicide rate for all persons of 16.0 per 100,000 (1) and the annual suicide rate for U.S. residents of 12.4 per 100,000 (2), but were similar to the prearrival suicide rate in Bhutanese refugee camps in Nepal of 20.7 per 100,000 (3).
*The four states are these: Arizona, Georgia, New York, and Texas. But, since we have brought nearly 70,000 Bhutanese to the US, there are many other resettlement states experiencing challenges with joblessness and just plain overload of George Bush’s refugees. Yesterday, we heard from Bhutanese in Manchester, NH, here.
Photo: There are many more photos of Bhutanese refugees in Atlanta, here, along with a story about them.
We’ve written dozens of posts over the last few years about Manchester, NH and its refugee overload. For those of you struggling with overload in your cities and towns, Manchester’s plight is instructive. Once the US State Department and their resettlement contractors get an ethnic seed community established, it’s almost impossible to stop the flow.
In the case of Manchester, the Mayor and council went so far as to get a bill introduced in the state legislature to give them some rights to call for a moratorium if the city became too overloaded. It failed. And, interestingly, now even some refugees are saying there are too many in Manchester and THEY CAN’T FIND WORK. (Someone please tell Grover Norquist and the Gang of Eight—Senator Kelly Ayotte too—that there are immigrants in need of work in New Hampshire!).
While many Bhutanese have transitioned well to life in U.S. – and they are all better off than they were in refugee camps – many, especially those older than 40, are struggling, Niroula [refugee featured in this article] said.
“Bhutanese are facing lot of challenges, because they are jobless,” he said.
The refugees aren’t the only ones having trouble coping with the transition. The growing number of refugees could be jarring for one of the least diverse states in the country. In the past decade, the number of immigrants in New Hampshire has grown by 36 percent, outpacing national growth by 6 percent.
Refugees are still a fraction of the population in the state’s largest city. A task force estimates there are 3,500 in Manchester out of a total population of 110,000. State Department figures show that between 2000 and 2010, almost 2,500 refugees were resettled in the city, just over half New Hampshire’s total during that period.
A central fear is that because services for refugees are frontloaded to their arrival, those who don’t transition well immediately are falling through the cracks. That could become costly for the city. [Unfunded mandate?—-ed]
Mayor Gatsas: the city needs a break!
In November 2011, Mayor Ted Gatsas, a Republican then newly elected to his second term, drew national attention after asking the State Department to stop resettling refugees to Manchester. In a recent interview, he said he still believes the city could benefit from a break in their arrival.
“We’ve got refugees in this community that don’t know the language, don’t have a job, and what I’ve been saying is let us catch our breath.Let us get these people into working society, so they’re good examples of the city of Manchester,” he said. “You can’t do that by bringing 300 more refugees on top of that.”
Surprise (not!): Resettlement contractors don’t communicate with community!
They [Bhutanese/Nepalese] are the most recent wave of refugees to land in New Hampshire. Several thousand African and Middle Eastern refugees – mostly Iraqi, Somali and Sudanese – were resettled there in the first part of the last decade and continue to arrive in much smaller numbers.
During the last session, Gatsas led a failed push pass a bill at the state level giving municipalities the authority to enact a one-year moratorium on new refugee resettlement. Among the issues he raised at the time was poor communication between the city and the resettlement agency, though he said that relationship has improved.
Look out Nashua! This is standard operating procedure, when the contractors get blow-back and big problems develop in a community, they simply start new seed communities not far away.
To take some of the pressure off Manchester, close to 50 will be resettled in nearby Nashua.
Contractors are keeping an eye on that other pocket of resistance—Tennessee—where there has been some success in getting the state to re-exert its right to say NO to the federal government.
Saba Berhane, director of the refugee services division with the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, said the mayor’s request is unusual and most resettlement communities welcome refugees, despite occasional challenges. But lawmakers in Tennessee passed legislation limiting resettlement, though a moratorium provision was stricken.Most recently, the legislature there killed a bill to that would have required refugee resettlement organizations to reimburse the state’s costs related to refugees.
Manchester is overloaded! Even the refugees get it! Why don’t the contractors?
…Bishnu Dahal, 53, said using a translator that the number of refugees is making it hard to find a job and she wouldn’t mind seeing new refugees settle elsewhere. Several others agreed.
Endnote: We previously wrote about resettlement contractor—Carolyn Benedict-Drew—quoted in this article, here in April.
They come via boat from mostly North Africa to seek asylum (they say) in the West. The US has added an extra draw—we have transformed some of Malta’s illegal alien Somalis into legitimate refugees and brought them to your towns.
Migrants brought in by helicopter to Malta earlier this week. Photo: Times of Malta
Refugees are supposed to seek asylum in the first safe place they arrive, but the whole system has now been perverted because the US (during the Bush Administration!) changed the rules. Asylum shopping is all the rage.
We told you about the controversial perversion of refugee law in RRW’s first month in existence in 2007. Here is that short post, but it wasn’t until later that we understood the significance of what Bush did.
This is Malta’s and the European Union’s problem, not ours!
5 July 2013 — The United Nations refugee agency estimates that some 8,400 migrants and asylum-seekers landed on the coasts of Italy and Malta in the first six months of this year, most of them from North Africa, having crossed the Mediterranean, one of the busiest seaways in the world.
Around 7,800 of the migrants and asylum-seekers arrived in Italy, while Malta received around 600, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Most of those making the journey departed from North Africa, principally Libya (around 6,700 people). The remaining 1,700 crossed from Greece and Turkey, landing in southern Italy.
Countries in sub-Saharan Africa are the main places of origin of these migrants and asylum-seekers, particularly Somalia and Eritrea. Other countries of origin include Egypt, Pakistan and Syria. Nationals of Gambia, Mali and Afghanistan also make these crossings, but in smaller numbers, noted UNHCR.
[….]
“In view of the perils, UNHCR again calls on all vessels at sea to be on alert for migrants and refugees in need of rescue,” he said at a news conference in Geneva. “We also renew our call to all shipmasters in the Mediterranean to remain vigilant and to carry out their duty of rescuing vessels in distress.
“International and European law also requires States to ensure that people intercepted or rescued at sea who seek asylum can gain access to territory and to an asylum procedure where their international protection needs or claims can be examined,” he added.
No “pushback” from Malta allowed!
A day before the above UN story, the Times of Maltareported on the arrival of more boats. The US will be taking some off their hands! Hey, do you think Europe might take some of our illegal aliens? Not a chance!
The Malta office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees said today that pushing back irregular migrants to their point of departure was not an option in view of the situation they faced in Libya.
In a statement, it noted that in less than 24 hours, four overcrowded boats were intercepted by Italy and Malta and almost 800 people were rescued. A total of 290 were brought to Malta.
A pushback policy was momentarily introduced some years ago following a controversial agreement between Italy and the Gaddafi regime, lambasted by humanitarian organisations.
“Those in need of international protection will now have the opportunity to have their asylum claims assessed. UNHCR Malta commends all entities and individuals involved in this effort,” the office said.
[….]
So far in 2013, around 600 asylum seekers have arrived in Malta, while almost 200 beneficiaries of protection have been assisted to settle in the US and other countries. [What other countries?—ed]
This is a bit of old news from January that I just came across today. I hadn’t seen it, so I figured you might not have either.
Laurence Bartlett (DOS) and Eskinder Negash (ORR) listen to complaints in Lewiston, ME. Photo: Scott Taylor Sun Journal
Seems that head honchos from the US State Department and the Office of Refugee Resettlement traveled to Maine (and elsewhere) to calm the locals.
But, how many times have we been told that everything is copacetic in Somali-overloaded Lewiston? If everything was just peachy these two wouldn’t have bothered to go there in the first place.
LEWISTON — Federal immigration and refugee resettlement policies will continue to be felt by local communities, federal officials told a roomful of city and social agency representatives Wednesday.
Eskinder Negash, director of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, and Larry Bartlett, director of the Office of Refugee Admissions, discussed immigration policies at Lewiston City Hall.
It was part of a two-day trip through Maine, one of many similar meetings held around the country* throughout the year. A similar meeting was held Tuesday in Portland.
Desired by whom?
Immigration policy is shaped by two factors: a desire to help less fortunate people and fiscal realities at home.
The humanitarian industrial complex wants more refugees, but it’s up to local folks to pay for it and tolerate the cultural upheaval! That is not exactly the words used, but that is what they are saying! To me, the “humanitarians” are like little children who want more stuff regardless if Mommy and Daddy have the money to pay for it.
When the “humanitarians” say jump, the feds ask, “how high?”
“There is no greater responsibility than that (which) we get from community leaders to make sure refugees get the support they deserve,” Bartlett said. “But there are many pressures from the humanitarian side of our country to grow this program.”
Too bad that some cities “find themselves” in a tough place! We are willing to listen but that’s about all we can do!
Cities such as Lewiston find themselves in a tough place with little federal support when refugees begin calling it home.
“In some ways, we have a challenging program and you feel the effects on a community level, and we have to thank you for that,” Bartlett said. “We don’t have all the answers and that’s why we have these discussions to hear what the problems are.”
For local officials, the biggest problem is a lack of federal aid for education, English language and other resettlement programs.
Heck, the State Department doesn’t have money to give to communities (only to our contractors!), and it’s up to the state to decide how much money to send to struggling overloaded towns. Sun Journalstory continued:
Bartlett said his office, part of the State Department, has no programs designed to help at the local level. Negash, whose office is part of the federal Health and Human Services agency, said there is federal help, but it’s limited.
“The money goes to the state,” Negash said. “The money always goes to the state, and the state has all the discretion it needs to use the money.”
Bartlett: We just carry out the will of Congress. We feel your pain, but not much we can do about it. Criticize us, but ain’t nothing gonna change!
Those funding and policy priorities are decided by Congress, the officials said.
“This is the way this country has designed this program to work,” Bartlett said. “We know it works, but it’s not perfect and we accept criticism willingly.”
Readers, if you live in overloaded refugee resettlement hotspots, you must complain to your Member of Congress and US Senators. And, don’t be afraid of someone calling you a racist! This is one more of a long list of state’s rights issues abused by Washington.
* By the way, not long ago we reportedon the ‘we-feel-your-pain roadshow’ to Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
For new readers, click here for our extensive archive on Lewiston, ME. Be sure to see this post on Maine as a welfare magnet and the role of Catholic Charities in bringing Somalis to Maine in the first place.
For our Maine readers, your Senators Angus Kingand Susan Collins want MORE refugees and immigrants. They both voted for S.744, the amnesty bill.
No jobs! Disrespect for rental property! Don’t speak English! Need more child care! Not enough housing for refugees!
Back in 2008 we wrote about “welcoming” Ft. Morgan, CO home of agribusiness giant Cargill. By the way, do you think Senator Jeff Sessions was referring to Cargill when he said the meat packers were driving the S.744 train and the Gang of Eight (cheap immigrant labor!), here?
If so, since there are so many unemployed refugees, why do we need more immigrant labor?
Cargill Meat Solutions in Ft. Morgan, CO. I’m now wondering if the meat packer giant, probably the largest employer there, controls the newspaper.
A few years ago, Somali refugees which had caused problems in Greeley and were fired by JBS Swift after a row over prayer times during work began flowing to a thrilled-to-have-them Ft. Morgan (or at least the Ft. Morgan Times was thrilled).
Here is one of many many posts on Somalis shopping for the most accommodating meat packers. We have a whole category on Greeley, JBS Swift and Somalis, here.
In 2008, the Ft. Morgan Times actually editorialized saying that Refugee Resettlement Watch (not by name, but who else would it be), was a blog teaching people how to chase refugees away, and represented the “dark ugly underside” of America. Click here for my take on their broadside.
Here is what the editor said about us!
Of course, if it were up to some people, Somali refugees would not have a chance to resettle anywhere in the U.S. There is even a Web site devoted to teaching Americans how to chase refugees of various sorts out of town.
This is a kind of insanity, since everyone except Native Americans are immigrants. Unfortunately, it shows the dark, ugly underside of our great country.
Just now, in trying to figure out how to post this latest news from the Ft. Morgan Times, I realize we have dozens of posts on the problems Ft. Morgan has had with its refugee overload going back five years (click herefor the whole listing). There were tensions in the community, in 2010 they brought in Justice Department community facilitators, the Chief of Police went to Denmark to learn how to deal with Somali Muslim refugees, there was even a Somali honor killing. I had never heard of the federal facilitators before Ft. Morgan, had you? Here is what the articlein the Ft. Morgan Timessaid then:
Essentially, it is a mediation agency which helps deal with cases involving changing community demographics, hate crimes, demonstrations and emotionally charged issues…
Fast forward to last week:
Based on this story in the Ft. Morgan Times, it sure sounds like, ho-hum, the town is still having problems with its Cargill-generated immigrant overload. (Hat tip: Joanne). But, Cargill doesn’t have enough jobs for all the immigrants so that is the rub (why then do we need more immigrant laborers as per S.744?).
A quarterly meeting was hosted by the following:
Joe Wismann-Horther of Colorado Refugee Services, OneMorgan County Executive Director Brenda Zion and Ryan Gray of Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains hosted the quarterly refugee services meeting Tuesday.
The news report is written like it’s just someone’s lengthy notes of the meeting. Here are some of the points that interested me:
* Refugees don’t speak English so go unemployed and they take lousy care of rental property.
Among issues mentioned were the need for properties to be taken better care of, day care for refugees, support for business development and employment.
Outside of jobs at Cargill Meat Solutions, there are few local jobs for refugees who do not speak English very well.
One idea is to look at how to develop job skills and how to work with Fort Morgan’s Workforce Center, said Joe Wismann-Horther of Colorado Refugee Services.
Local agencies and businesses could discuss how to develop employment options for refugees who do not work at Cargill.
Cargill only has a limited number of jobs, said Shirley Penn, coordinator for Cargill’s and Morgan Community College’s Workplace Education program.
[….]
It is difficult for refugees to take classes in business when they do not have high-level English skills, said OneMorgan County Executive Director Brenda Zion.
[….]
Some refugees do not understand what is expected with properties they rent, such as weed control, said Fort Morgan Police Chief Keith Kuretich.
* Colorado Refugee Services rep says more refugees are coming because after ten years they can bring family. What the heck? They can bring family anytime, they need not wait ten years. What he is obliquely referring to here is that Somalis were banned from 2008 until recently to bring their “family” members because the State Department uncovered massive fraud in 2008. Gee, about 30,000 were not family members! They had lied. Either the reporter didn’t know enough to clarify what was said by Wismann-Horther, or it was purposefully left out of the story.
The city may see a new development for refugees soon, as they are in the U.S. for 10 years and can start bringing relatives from their native countries, he said.
The U.S. refugee program is overseeing that possibility by requiring DNA testing to make sure people really are relatives, Wismann-Horther said. [At this point wouldn’t you think someone would ask/report to the public what that is all about!—ed]
* We only allow refugees from certain countries for a limited time—say what! There is no rule about this, I personally think that contractors are out scouting for new ethnic groups because they tire of the ones they have been resettling after a time.
And, Wismann-Horther is wrong about Somalis, we are bringing a very large number this year. We are on target to rival the top years(during the Bush Administration) with possibly 9,000-10,000 if the present trend continues.
He said that immigration from places like Bhutan and Burma are falling off now, as have immigrants from Somalia. The U.S. refugee program only allows people from countries for a limited amount of time.
Wismann-Horther told the gathering to get ready for the Congolese as the “next stream.” We know—50,000! Are you ready for your share, Colorado?
* Surprise! Not enough housing for all the refugees.
A huge issue is the “zero vacancy rate” in Fort Morgan, she [Board of Realtors Director] said. New people come to the city and cannot find anywhere to live.
Wismann-Horther at that point goes on about possibly building new housing (for jobless immigrants who are having problems keeping their present properties maintained?)
We’ve written 
