Archive for September, 2011
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 30, 2011
Although there are between 400-700 refugees resettled to Lansing, Michigan each year, there are few resources for college-age refugees. Most of the services and agencies that cater to refugees’ needs instead focus on children and families. This leaves these young people resettled halfway around the world in a strange place and a vulnerable position — with no family or friends to support them. Luckily, in Lansing other young people have stepped forward to help these refugees. An article in The State News explains:
…[Kaba, a 24-year-old refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo] never met his real family. As a child in Uganda, he was taken in by a Guinean man and raised in the Congo. Kaba’s adopted father raised him as his own, and Kaba came to know the man’s four children as brothers and sisters. In 2004, conflict arose in the Congo, causing Kaba and his family to flee back to Uganda. But before they could escape, Kaba’s father was killed.
Kaba said his father was the most important person in his life, and he was devastated by the loss. But there was little time to mourn his loss.
“We arrived in Uganda in 2005 in August, and in October I went (away) to work for six months,” Kaba said. “When I came back around (March 2006), I didn’t find (my family) at home. They were swift, they moved and they didn’t tell me where they went.”
For the next two years, Kaba remained in a refugee camp until he was selected for resettlement by U.N. officials in 2008 and was flown to Lansing….
…many refugees, such as Kaba, are resettled halfway around the world in a strange place with no family or friends to support them.
Suddenly, these young people have to learn how to live on their own, provide for themselves and to interact with people who speak another language, [Community relations and marketing director for St. Vincent Catholic Charities Julie Picot] said. Tasks that might seem simple, such as riding the bus or shopping at Meijer,
can be incredibly difficult to learn, she said.
But harder still is healing the mental and emotional wounds that have been inflicted upon these refugees before their arrival, she said…
But for refugees such as Kaba, beyond those essentials lies a desire for something more, something many refugees in his situation struggle to find —companionship.
Finding a friend
With between 400-700 refugees coming to Lansing each year, there are many services and agencies that cater to their needs, but the focus for most of those groups is centered on children and families, MSU alumnus Ken Chester said.
But there are few resources for college-age refugees,
Chester said.
Because of this shortcoming, Chester founded Refugee/Immigrant Young-Adult Neighbor, or RYAN, in 2008 based on the work he did as a student at MSU and a member of IVAC.
After working with a young refugee during an IVAC project in 2007, Chester realized this segment of the refugee population was being isolated from the rest of the community.
“The thing that really touched me was when he said, ‘You’re my only friend in the community,’” Chester said… Read more here
Posted in Congolese, Lansing, Michigan, St. Vincent Catholic Charities (Lansing), young adults | Tagged: college-age, International Volunteer Action Corps, IVAC, Ken Chester, Lansing, Michigan State University, MSU, Refugee/Immigrant Young-Adult Neighbor, refugees, resettlement, RYAN, St. Vincent Catholic Charities, young people | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 29, 2011
The pro-refugee documentary Nickel City Smiler, which refreshingly does not do the usual towing of the line of refugee resettlement contractors, is now set for an early November showing in Buffalo. The documentary film, produced in Buffalo, chronicles the life of a Karen refugee family (from Burma/Myanmar) after they have been resettled to a tough inner-city Buffalo neighborhood. The film documents the refugee family’s hardship and their incredible determination to one day live in peace and ensure a better future for their children.
Local refugee resettlement contractors were involved in having the
documentary removed from a neighborhood film festival last summer.
The film will be shown at:
Note: The Nickel City Smiler DVD is also available for purchase.
Posted in Buffalo, Burma/Myanmar, Catholic Charities of Buffalo, dangerous neighborhoods, furnishings, lack of, household items, missing or broken, housing, substandard, International Institute of Buffalo, Jewish Family Service of Buffalo & Erie County, Journey's End Refugee Services, Journey's End Refugee Services, Karen, population levels, using refugees as pawns to boost, safety | Tagged: Buffalo, Burma, documentary, federal contractors, inner-city, Karen, Myanmar, neglect, Nickel City Smiler, refugees, resettlement, Smiler Greely | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 28, 2011
It turns out that not only did Catholic Charities Galveston-Houston not report an incident involving the sexual assault of a refugee boy to the ORR until July 5 (four days after it occurred on July 1) — and did not mention the sexual assault part – but law enforcement was not notified until over a month later, on August 5. The Texas protective services, which claims that Catholic Charities notified it within 24 hours of the assault as required, claims to have closed its investigation due to a “technical glitch”, but reopened the case when Catholic Charities inquired about the investigation on July 13. The protective services investigation then found that the shelter left children unsupervised and children were acting out inappropriately. Records also showed a worker supervising children when that worker was actually off the clock. A report at Houston’s KPRC Channel-2 details what happened:
HOUSTON — An 8-year-old boy said he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by two boys at a home for children.
The boy said a 10-year-old and an 11-year-old boy assaulted him at the St. Michael’s Home for Children, which is run by Catholic Charities. The home cares for children who are refugees from foreign countries.
Harris County sheriff’s deputies said a worker at the home caught a 10-year-old molesting an 8-year-old in July. The 8-year-old later claimed he was also molested by an 11-year-old.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which licenses the home, launched an investigation and found children unsupervised and children acting out inappropriately. Records show a worker supervising children when that worker was actually off the clock.
The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement also launched an investigation. It removed all but five children staying in the home. They were working on new living arrangements for those children.
Investigators said Catholic Charities immediately notified the state of the claims. The state closed its investigation after a technical glitch, but when Catholic Charities inquired about the investigation on July 13, the case was reopened.
Deputies said they were not notified of the alleged incidents until Aug. 5… Read more here
An updated version of the Houston Chronicle article from Monday adds further details.
Posted in Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, child protective services, children, faith-based, Houston, ORR, sexual abuse | Tagged: catholic charities, houston, law enforcement, protective services, refugees, resettlement, St. Michael's Home for Children, technical glitch, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 27, 2011
An incident at a Catholic Charities shelter in Houston that media outlets previously reported as “sexual activity” between three children is now being reported as a sexual assault. An investigation by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) found that Catholic Charities did not report the July 1 sexual assault of a boy until four days later, nor did they seek medical treatment for the child. Catholic Charities management also did a cover-up, including doctoring of first reports. An article at UPI reports on the ORR investigation:
HOUSTON, Sept. 26 (UPI) — Federal officials were removing children and teens from three Houston shelters after learning the sexual assault of a child at one facility was covered up.
As of Friday, only five of 72 children and teens, mostly refugees, remained in the three Catholic Charities shelters, the Houston Chronicle reported.
An investigation by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement found that Catholic Charities did not report the July 1 sexual assault of a young boy at a St. Michael’s shelter until July 5 and also failed to get the boy medical attention until the latter date.
“CCGH staff had knowledge that a [child] had been anally penetrated as the result of a sexual assault … and did not seek medical treatment,” a report by the office states. “Program staff should have observed that a sexual assault of a child is grounds for immediate medical attention.”
Federal investigators conducted an unannounced visit to the site of the sexual assault in August and found that initial reports of the attack had been doctored.
“The ORR monitors found significant concerns, including the fact that management had full knowledge of the extent of the assault and submitted erroneous … reports to this office, which deliberately misled ORR,” the agency’s director wrote in a Sept. 8 letter to the president of Catholic Charities… Read more here
An article in the Houston Chronicle reports that Catholic Charities management also pressured staffers to withhold details from investigators.
Posted in Catholic, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, child protective services, children, faith-based, health, Houston, medical care, ORR, sexual abuse | Tagged: catholic charities, chilren, cover-up, doctored documents, houston, Office of Refugee Resettlement, ORR, refugees, sexual abuse, sexual assault | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 26, 2011
Diyar al-Bayati, 24, died last week of unknown causes after living as a refugee in Utah for three years. Before his death, he struggled with physical and emotional issues directly tied to his service during the Iraq War, including PTSD and the loss of both legs and the use of one arm in a 2006 roadside explosion in Iraq. An article in the Deseret News first told about Diyar’s arrival in the US in 2008:
By the time his plane landed in Salt Lake City late on the night of April 11 [2008], things weren’t going very well for Diyar al-Bayati. His motorized wheelchair had been mangled on the flight from Jordan to New Jersey, and then his luggage was lost. Still, al-Bayati was optimistic about one thing: that he would be greeted in Salt Lake City by Americans who were happy to see him.
After all, hadn’t he lost both his legs while working as an interpreter for the U.S. Army in Baghdad?
But there were no grateful soldiers at the airport that night. Instead there was one Somali refugee, sent by Catholic Community Services. The man insisted on speaking Arabic, in an accent al-Bayati couldn’t understand, and he wanted to take al-Bayati to the home of another Somali refugee.
“I said, ‘no, dude,’” remembers al-Bayati, who had perfected his American slang during his 200 combat missions with the 4th Infantry Division in 2005 and 2006. When Catholic Community Services then wanted to put him in a cheap hotel — “with the drugs dealers,” says al-Bayati — he said “no” again… Read more here
Now an article in the Salt Lake Tribune details Diyar’s last days:
…Still in his mid-20s, [Diyar Al-Bayati] left life last week, seated in his chair, neatly groomed for a dental appointment, his hairbrush in his hand…
…”As a soldier, interpreter, he was one of the most courageous people, soldier or Iraqi, I’ve ever worked with,” his Army commander, Dan Makay, said Saturday from Afghanistan. “He was a patriot, not just for Iraq but for America.”
Here in Utah, though, Al-Bayati lived alone in an apartment, said Debi Clark, a clinical social worker who was working with war trauma survivors when she met him in 2008….
…Injury-related night tremors and post-traumatic stress robbed him of sleep
But for years, Al-Bayati kept his “bright spirit” alive, Clark said, despite many more surgeries, infections and the pain medications that ultimately led to addiction.
“He was an amazing young man,” she said. “The first time I met him, I was just so worried. ‘What am I going to say to this young kid after having his life totally altered helping the military while we were invading his country?’ But he had such a good heart, and he was willing to help everyone.”
For a couple of years, Al-Bayati kept his equilibrium, enduring agonizing treatments with courage and optimism, said Ramin Rahimian, a photographer who spent a year making a video about him.
“He was ridiculously strong. He was a fort,” Rahimian said. “I’ve never seen anyone so strong. No one else I knew could go through such a thing.”…
…”He wanted legs, prosthetics. He was a very proud man, energetic. But he couldn’t reach his potential, and I think he felt that every day,” Makay said.
Al-Bayati never got the right prosthetics, and his AIG insurance — he worked for the private L-3 Communications, under contract with the U.S. government — paid less than $500 a month…
…For now, his friends and families can only mourn his passing amid regret that nothing he wanted — a family, new legs, an education — came to him.
“The light in his eyes, it was gone,” Clark said. “I want to remember him with that bright light.”… Read more here
Posted in disabled refugees, Iraqi, PTSD, Salt Lake City, SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants | Tagged: AIG, Catholic Community Services, Diyar al-Bayati, health insurance, interpreter, Iraqi, L-3 Communications, lufthanza, mental health, military contractor, Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, refugees, resettlement, SIV, Special Immigrant Visa, Utah | 1 Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 25, 2011
Neighbors and supporters of African refugees families in Concord held a rally in response to the racist graffiti scrawled on the families’ homes last weekend. The rally was in support of the immigrant families in Concord, and throughout New Hampshire. Gov. John Lynch was also in attendance. The Union-Leader gives the details:
CONCORD — Lyn Betz of Bradford had a message for New Hampshire’s refugee community yesterday: “You are not refugees anymore.”
“You are home,” said Betz. “And your neighbors love you.”
Betz is part of a coalition that organized a “Love Your Neighbor Celebration” yesterday in response to racist graffiti scrawled on the homes of three African families last weekend.
Punctuated with music, speeches and prayer, the event drew an estimated 300 people from the city and surrounding towns to a small park in the south Concord neighborhood where the vandalism took place.
“We are here to express our outrage at what happened here in Concord, New Hampshire,” Gov. John Lynch said, to cheers from the crowd. “But even more, we’re here to express our commitment, our love and our support for our neighbors here in Concord, and in New Hampshire.”
Betz called the event, hurriedly organized through social media, emails and leaflets distributed throughout the neighborhood, “a beautiful expression of Greater Concord’s loving heart.”
“We’re not here to complain, and we’re not here to vilify that one person who committed a hateful act,” she said. “We’re here to show that person who used that pen to attack our neighbors, and to show our neighbors who are hurt and frightened by what happened, that we will not stand by and allow this to happen unchallenged.”… Read more here
Posted in Congolese, hate crimes, Lutheran Social Services of New Hampshire, New Hampshire, safety, Somali | Tagged: concord, graffiti, hate crime, New Hampshire, racism, refugees, resettlement, vandalism, xenophobic | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 24, 2011
Last May Nancy Lee wrote a post suggesting the need for a handbook or manual for refugees to have as a guide through resettlement. Finally one refugee resettlement contractor is preparing one – albeit only for Nepali-Bhutanese refugees resettled in New Hampshire. The handbook will focus on the difficulties faced by refugees as they adapt to their new life in America. This effort comes three years after the US began resettling 60,000 Nepali-Bhutanese refugees here. An article on PRWeb explains:
Lutheran Social Services (LSS) Services for New Americans will develop and publish a bi-lingual guidebook for Bhutanese refugees resettled in New Hampshire.
Funded by a grant from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the Nepali/English Handbook for Living in the USA will focus on the difficulties faced by refugees as they adapt to their new life in America. LSS will subcontract with S & T Communications to produce the handbook.
S&T Communications, located in Manchester, NH voluntarily publishes Aksharica Nepali Newsletter (www.aksharica.com) for Nepali speaking refugees and immigrants living in the US. On behalf of S&T Communications, Rajesh Koirala, the editor of Aksharica will write the handbook. Rajesh has over 15 years of experience in writing and journalism.
The U.S. Government began resettling Bhutanese refugees in March 2008. Since that time, more than 1,200 Nepali speaking refugees have made New Hampshire their new home in America.
Most refugees have spent a considerable part of their lives in refugee camps. New Hampshire offers them a safe haven, but an entirely new set of rules, customs and systems. Coping with this culture shock can prove difficult. The handbook will provide an easy reference allowing Bhutanese refugees to receive information about their new communities at their own pace… Read more here
Posted in Nepali Bhutanese, New Hampshire, community/cultural orientation, Lutheran Social Services of New Hampshire, Lutheran, cultural adjustment, cultural/community orientation, post arrival, language | Tagged: bhutanese, guidebook, Handbook for Living in the USA, LSS, Lutheran social services, Nepali, Nepali-Bhutanese, refugees, resettlement | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 23, 2011
Human trafficking is “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by improper means for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation”. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act became law in 2000 to help organizations offer services to survivors of trafficking, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) has awarded millions of dollars in grant money to organizations claiming to give services to trafficking victims. Yet, recent audits of six grant-receiving organizations show that they had more than $2.72 million in unsupported, unallowable or questioned costs. An audit of Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights in Chicago, which the DOJ awarded $2 million, revealed that this refugee organization did not have adequate documentation for $902,122 in salaries and $174,479 in fringe benefits. An article in InfoZine has more:
Six audits completed between 2007 and 2009 reported more than $2.72 million in unsupported, unallowable or questioned costs of the $8.24 million total the Department of Justice awarded to the six grant recipients.
“These select individual audits signal to me that there is a bigger problem,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday. “The inspector general audited seven trafficking grantees and found serious problems in all seven.”
During the hearing on the reauthorization of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which provides grants and resources for trafficking victims, advocates, law enforcement and prosecutors, Grassley questioned whether the Department of Justice is awarding money to the appropriate organizations.
“Holding grant programs accountable will help to ensure that services really go to those in need,” Grassley, the senior Republican on the committee, said in a statement. “Before we reauthorize another dollar, we need strong oversight language included in legislation – to ensure that failing grantees will not be rewarded with additional taxpayer dollars.”
Human trafficking is “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by improper means for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation,” according to the National Institute of Justice’s website.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act became law in 2000 to help organizations spread awareness, provide services to survivors of trafficking, investigate trafficking and support the prosecution of traffickers.
Not all grant recipients appear to be handling their money appropriately, however. One audit discovered that the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs in Chicago, which was awarded $2 million, did not have adequate documentation for $902,122 in salaries and $174,479 in fringe benefits… Read more here
Posted in Chicago, Dept. of Justice, funding, Heartland Alliance, human trafficking, invalid or improper expenses, public/private partnership | Tagged: Department of Justice, grant, heartland alliance, Human trafficking, questionable costs, refugees, resettlement, Trafficking Victims Protection Act, unauthorized expenditures | 1 Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 22, 2011
A large painting of General Robert E. Lee hangs inside Bedford County criminal court - the only portrait in the courtroom.
The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) recently released a report entitled “The Forgotten Constitution – Racial Profiling and Immigration Enforcement in Bedford County, Tennessee.” The 16-page report about this rural county, about an hour south of Nashville, alleges that immigrants and refugees face hostility and discrimination from all aspects of the criminal justice system – including the Shelbyville police, the sheriff’s department and jail, and the local court system.
Bedford County is exceptional for its large and vibrant immigrant and refugee communities, who live and work in the rolling hills of this rural county about an hour south of Nashville, Tennessee. Somali and Burmese refugees, Egyptian immigrants, and Latino immigrants are the backbone of local industry, working at poultry plants and on the walking horse farms that make Shelbyville – Bedford’s county seat – famous…
…Despite immigrants’ essential economic contributions to Bedford County, they face hostility and discrimination from all aspects of the criminal justice system, which works in close coordination with federal immigration enforcement authorities. Arrests of Latinos have intensified since Tennessee law changed in January 2011 to require jailers to ask arrestees their citizenship and report this information to ICE. Pervasive anti-immigrant sentiment coupled with misinterpretation of the scope of this law has resulted in an ongoing immigration inquisition by local law enforcement that has caused a steep increase in detention and removal by ICE. Suspected immigrants are subjected to racial profiling and increased police surveillance. They are arrested and detained in county jail for minor traffic violations–often unlawfully–in order to facilitate their deportation. Immigrants and refugees are unable to meaningfully access government services and the court system, which means many of them are unable to vindicate their rights. Immigrants are mistreated by ICE officials, who have collaborated with locals engaged in explicitly racially discriminatory practices to entrap, interrogate, and arrest immigrants who clearly do not fit immigration enforcement priorities. Many immigrant victims of crime no longer trust law enforcement to protect them… To be an immigrant or refugee in Bedford County is to be treated with suspicion or outright hostility by one’s own government, whose offices still exhibit vestiges of the overt racial apartheid of years past…
…Immigrants are targeted at disproportionate rates by officers of Bedford County law enforcement agencies, particularly the Shelbyville Police Department, as a pretext for making arrests that will enable jailers to contact ICE… Local law enforcement agencies’ patrols, traffic stops, and arrests demonstrate a pattern of treating Latinos and other immigrants in a discriminatory manner…
…Immigrants face discrimination in booking and detention procedures at the Bedford County Jail, which is administered by the Bedford County Sheriff’sDepartment and Sheriff Randall Boyce… Immigrants are more likely to be held for long periods of time for minor traffic violations and to be held unlawfully without bond or after posting bond as a “courtesy” for ICE when there is no ICE detainer. Since January 2011, the unlawful practices of the Bedford County Sheriff’s Department have resulted in as much as a tenfold increase in the number of immigrants detained for ICE – all at the expense of Bedford County’s taxpayers. ICE has initiated deportation proceedings against most of those who have been unlawfully detained…
…A large painting of Confederate General Robert E. Lee hangs above the main doorway just inside the Bedford County criminal court, and is the only portrait in the courtroom. There is little justice here for immigrants who walk through these doors, in the shadow of that disciple of state racism and white supremacy…
…Immigrant criminal defendants assigned to the public defender are often not advised of the immigration consequences of a criminal conviction... Recommendations by defense counsel to plead guilty have jeopardized the ability of some long-standing community members to qualify for cancellation of removal or other immigration relief. Finally, some court-appointed attorneys have apparently charged indigent Latino clients for court appearances, despite the fact that these defendants are charged attorney fees by the probation office for the exact same representation and court appearances… Read more here
Posted in ICE, Burma/Myanmar, Somali, police, secondary migration, refugee, unwelcoming communities, court, poultry production, xenophobia/nationalism/isolationism, Murfreesboro/Shelbyville | Tagged: refugees, resettlement, immigrants, police, Shelbyville, courts, racism, apartheid, discrimination, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, TIRRC, Bedford County, criminal justice system, The Forgotten Constitution, Latinos | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 20, 2011
An article in Public Radio International’s The World explains the issue of managing refugee children in their transition to a new culture — in particular, their newfound power of dialing 911. The article also explains related language-barrier problems.
Fargo police officer Cristie Jacobsen has responded to a lot of 9-11 calls, but few with less urgency than this one. “A teenage girl called the police on her mother because her mother had prepared a very simple ethnic meal for her and she didn’t like it,” said Jacobsen.
Coming to a new nation as a refugee — adjusting to a new language, culture, and climate — is always a struggle. But now in Fargo, North Dakota many refugee parents are being manipulated by their children.
Refugee children have been calling the Fargo Police because they don’t want to do the dishes or wear a particular shirt. They’ve also gotten a lot of calls about this: Parents were taking away their kid’s Mountain Dew.
“The children didn’t like it,” said Jacobsen. “Because they had gotten used to drinking it, they enjoyed the caffeine splurge and things like that and so it became a power struggle.”… Read more here
Posted in children, cultural adjustment, language, North Dakota | Tagged: 9/11, children, Fargo, police, refugees, resettlement | Leave a Comment »
Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
