U.S. Welcomes Refugees, Urges Other Countries to Do Same

Morris Michael and his family fled civil war in southern Sudan in 1993 when he was a child. He has now graduated from Columbia University as a biomedical engineer.

Washington — The United States resettled 56,000 refugees in 2011 in a partnership with many civic organizations around the country. Similar numbers are expected for resettlement in 2012, according to officials at the State Department as they highlighted the U.S. refugee policy in recognition of World Refugee Day June 20.

The United States is also involved in a discussion with other nations about expanding their hospitality for refugees, said Kelly Gauger of the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM). “The main effort was to both increase the number of resettlement countries, and to increase the number of slots that other resettlement countries offer," she said.

Gauger said about 28 other countries offer resettlement to refugees, and they have an ongoing dialogue about their policies under the auspices of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The departments of State and Homeland Security have continued to process refugees for resettlement over the last few years, even while the country has faced recession and stagnant economic growth.

“The economic climate has not had a direct correlation in the numbers of refugees we’re bringing in,” said PRM Deputy Assistant Secretary David Robinson. “But it does impact how quickly they become self-sufficient.”

Job qualifications, education level, race, religion, assets — none of these are factors when U.S. agencies are making decisions about a refugee’s suitability to enter the United States for resettlement. Need, said Robinson, is the only criterion.

“If UNHCR or one of the other organizations that makes referrals says, ‘This person needs resettlement,’ we don’t consider male, female or any of those other attributes,” Robinson said. “We only look at the need of the person coming into the country.”

The United States has welcomed about 3 million refugees from some 70 countries since the 1970s. PRM officials acknowledge that gaining entry as a refugee is a long process, taking sometimes more than a year, requiring an individual to undergo screenings to evaluate their security status and health condition and take some cultural training.

PRM works with nine resettlement agencies with offices all around the country that lead refugee families to new homes, show them around their new communities and help them find work. Many of the refugees arrive in the country qualified for jobs only on the lower end of the pay scale, so getting a job can be the most difficult step in the process.

Gauger and Robinson discussed U.S. refugee resettlement policies in a briefing at the Foreign Press Center June 18 with journalists representing media outlets in other countries. In response to a question, Robinson said the United States has not received a spike in requests for resettlement from Syria, beset with violence for more than a year.

“Most of the [Syrians] who have found asylum in Turkey, Jordan or Lebanon or Iraq just want to go home,” Robinson said. “Hopefully, conditions will allow them to return home in the not-too-distant future.”

Resettlement is often not the best answer for many refugees. Afghan refugees numbered in the millions in the late 1990s after years of war with the former Soviet Union and internal struggles. Since the Taliban was deposed and al-Qaida has lost influence, Robinson said, 6 million former Afghan refugees have gone home, and PRM is working with other international agencies “to help them try to reintegrate back into Afghanistan and participate fully in life there.”

Robinson called the U.S. refugee resettlement program “a flagship of humanitarian response” that has provided displaced people with new opportunities, while they bring new diversity and vitality to the communities where they settle.

Looking to the future, Robinson said PRM and like-minded organizations on both the national and international level continually survey world events to identify vulnerable populations and prepare for a time when they may need humanitarian assistance or resettlement.