Archive for the ‘transportation’ Category
Posted by Christopher Coen on February 17, 2012
There have long been some unsettling practices in the refugee travel loan segment of the US refugee resettlement program. This is yet another aspect of the program that never seems to be covered by the mainstream media, which seems to rely almost entirely on refugee resettlement agencies’ press releases for their coverage of the program.
For those who are unfamiliar, the US federal government covers refugee travel costs to the US via the International Organization for Migration (IOM) – the principal intergovernmental migration organization. As a condition of travel the IOM requires that refugees, before they depart to the US, sign promissory notes to repay the costs of travel via interest-free loans. The IOM, however, has not translated promissory notes in other languages, calling into question whether refugees understand what they are signing. In addition, refugee resettlement agencies earn a 25 percent commission for acting as collection agencies for the travel loans. Agencies have regularly failed to notify refugees of their right to a deferral and/or a write off – in the event of financial hardship – and fail among the various agencies to treat refugees the same. In aprtnership with the IOM they also fail to translate the bills that they send to the refugees.
Furthermore, and more astonishingly, the agencies often fail to take the most minimal steps to work with refugees to help them repay their loans, instead threatening the refugees with draconian measures for failure to comply with promissory note terms, For example the San Diego IRC office warns refugees, “failing to comply with the established payment schedule and terms will result in legal action to collect the amount past due and payable.” Its hard to understand how any of these practices comply with these organizations’ missions as humanitarian entities.
I wrote to the State Department’s refugee office about some of these practices in a series of letters back in 2005, but the office apparently did not take any constructive steps to resolve the problems (when the official I wrote to retired, however, she referred to her office’s “party-hard” habits, including various theatrical productions). In years past I also spoke with an IOM official and he laughed at me for supposedly trying to “make a cause” out of these questionable practices. Now, in a recent comment to our website attorney Zoe Ann Olson at Idaho Legal Aid Services, Inc. tells (see below) about her efforts to assist refugees in Idaho whom resettlement agencies damaged their credit by reporting them to Trans-Union. She’s looking for anyone who has successfully challenged the legality of these loans.
I had a telephone meeting with IOM Head of Office, Brian Graham. IOM is addressing all of Idaho Legal Aid’s travel loan cases directly with me. We found that the agencies were not offering refugees options such as deferrals and or write off of their travel loans and were not treating refugees the same among agencies.
IOM is creating a website with information about the travel loans and eligibility criteria for deferrals and write offs. I told him that I want standard guidance and all agencies must tell refugees the rules from the beginning before they sign a promissory note.
IOM will write off the travel loans with documentation for death, repatriation, bankruptcy, permanent disability (with a Dr’s letter saying the refugee is disabled and can’t work), minor orphans. Case-by-case for incarceration, victims of violence, domestic violence victims and documented financial hardship.
Received deferrals for temporary disabilities and documented under or unemployed.
IOM is going to correct the credit report of all of my clients that were reported to TransUnion for defaulting on their loans because the agencies did not notify them of their right to a deferral and or write off and thus should never have been reported. The issue of damaged credit is still outstanding.
I explained to them that families need to be able to make their own travel arrangements especially if it is cheaper, and translate promissory notes in other languages and the bills too.
They are going to provide better orientation on the travel loan in the refugee country and here with Title VI compliant services.
They are going to redo their computer system to better monitor travel loan collection practices.
I would like to know if anyone has successfully challenged the legality of said loan. The promissory notes are governed by DC law. To collect a debt in Idaho once in default, an entity has to show the person owes the debt and that the collector (IOM) has registered in the State of Idaho to collect a debt. Our clients’ loans have been deferred or written off. Now I am working on the deferrals—hoping to get more write offs and or reduced payments for disputed loans and or hardship. On April 19 and 20, I will provide a fair housing and travel loan clinics in Boise and Twin Falls.
Thank you,
Zoe Ann Olson
Attorney at Law
Idaho Legal Aid Services, Inc.
1-(208)-345-0106, extension 1508
Facsimile 1-(208)-342-2561
310 North 5th Street
Boise, Idaho 83702
zoeannolson [at] idaholegalaid [dot] org
Posted in funding, Idaho, IRC, language, language interpretation/translation, lack of, Office of Admissions, transportation, Travel Loan Program | Tagged: credit, Idaho Legal Aid, internation organization for migration, IOM, refugees, resettlement, Travel Loan, Zoe Ann Olson | 5 Comments »
Posted by Christopher Coen on January 28, 2012
If you follow this blog you might remember reading about the experience a volunteer helping refugees from Myanmar had with the Bowling Green International Center. Cindy Florez, who I spoke to and corresponded with in 2009 and 2010, met the refugees in a refugee camp when she was in Thailand and later drove to Bowling Green to welcome them when they arrived for resettlement. There, she found her friends living in filthy, rundown apartments, overrun with massive cockroach infestations – and commented about the problems on a website. Later, bringing the refugees a carload of donated items she was greeted by a hostile landlord (apparently a Burmese individual, and friend of the Institute?) who ordered her off the property, using the police to illegally remove her from the property (tenants may chose who their guests are, not landowners or police). A mystery person in the building also threw M-80 firecrackers at Florez and her female Karenni interpreter.
Now, two years after we placed a request with the State Department’s FOIA office for that public agency’s monitoring inspections reports of the private resettlement agencies for late 2008 and early 2009, the office has finally responded with a few reports. One of those reports is a March 31-April 1, 2009 inspection of the Bowling Green International Center. It turns out that the State Department monitors were able to conduct the rare once-in-5-or-10-year-inspection without discovering any of the problems that Florez documented in writing and on video (monitors did not find any infestation, even though two of the refugee cases they visited reported these). So, what went wrong?
That remains for the State Department monitors to explain, although their office has frequently repeated that they act only as a “partner” to their resettlement contractors. Even with that lack of authority in the oversight relationship I think it still remains for them to explain why they will not investigate any of the individual cases reported by members of the public and the community (instead, they selected only the usual small random sample, four refugee cases in this case, for home visits).
Part of what probably went wrong was an extensive clean-up before the monitors’ arrival, after the community member caught this resettlement contractor providing substandard services. No doubt other problems include the rarity of the monitorings and the great weight given to resettlement contractors’ own written records as “proof” of services they provided.
Finally, I notice that the report states that this refugee resettlement agency “reports a collaborative relationship with the state refugee coordinator” without mentioning that the “state” refugee coordinator is just another private refugee resettlement contractor – Catholic Charities of Louisville.
Posted in Bowling Green, Catholic Charities of Louisville Inc., housing, substandard, International Center in Bowling Green (Western Kentucky Refugee Mutual Assistance Association), Karenni, missed immunizations for refugee students, Office of Admissions, public/private partnership, rats and roaches, State Department, transportation | Tagged: Bowling Green, Catholic Charities of Louisville, International Center, karenni, monitoring, refugees, resettlement, State Department, Western Kentucky Refugee Mutual Assistance Association | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on June 15, 2011
12-passenger Chevrolet Express van
A charity has given Catholic Charities Fort Worth a grant for a new fleet of passenger vans according to an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. One of Catholic Charities’ first purchases is a 12-passenger Chevrolet Express van and the agency has already begun using it to transport refugee children.
FORT WORTH — With precious cargo inside, new vans donated to Catholic Charities Fort Worth won’t be traveling at high speeds.
But the spiffy rides are funded by folks who enjoy fast cars: the Texas chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities. A $146,431 grant from the group will pay for a fleet of four passenger vans for the nonprofit organization…
…The 2011 white vans, a 12-passenger Chevrolet Express and an eight-passenger Toyota Sienna, will springboard a new transportation program at Catholic Charities Fort Worth, which provides services for low-income families, seniors, refugees and immigrants in the 28-county diocese.
About 9,000 children are expected to ride in the vans this year to appointments, educational activities and fun outings. Their parents will get rides to parenting classes, support groups and other activities, said Heather Reynolds, chief executive officer and president of Catholic Charities Fort Worth…
…On Tuesday, children piled into the vans for a field trip to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and Omni Theater. The 16 youngsters, all refugees who have been resettled in Fort Worth, have limited English skills, but their gratitude was unmistakable… Read more here
It concerns me the see this article due to the passenger van rollovers in Arizona and Georgia in the past two years in which so many refugees died or were seriously injured. Officials reported that a tire blowout was the cause of the rollover in Georgia.
A lawyer, Certified Insurance Counselor and member of the USA Baseball Medical/Safety Advisory Committee named John M. Sadler claims that research indicates that 12-passenger vans don’t fare much better than 15-passenger vans in rollovers. In a 2008 article he advised sports organizations as soon as possible to get rid of all 12-passenger and 15-passenger vans, and replace them with 7-passenger mini vans or school buses, which have a much lower rollover propensity at higher occupant loads. He also recommends – among other things – that those groups that do use these larger vans always use a trained, experienced driver who understands and is familiar with the handling characteristics of a fully loaded van. They should also insist that all occupants wear safety belts for the entire duration of the trip, move passengers and cargo forward of the rear axle, and check tires before any trip to make sure that they are properly inflated and not excessively worn.
Finally, agencies should check the pressure of each tire when “cold” and set to the recommended inflation pressure as specified on the vehicle placard in the owner’s manual (the typical recommended pressure for the rear tires can also be higher than for the front tires). Agencies should always equip vans with a tire gauge.
I think that refugee agencies also should never fully load these large vans with adult passengers, and if they insist on using these vans they should only buy or use vans that have electronic stability control (ESC).
Posted in Burma/Myanmar, Catholic, Catholic Charities Fort Worth, children, Dallas/Fort Worth, safety, transportation | Tagged: 12 passenger van, accident, Burma/Myanmar, catholic charities, children, crash, Fort Worth, Heather Reynolds, human rights, refugee, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement agencies, resettlement, roll-over, transportation, van rollover | 2 Comments »
Posted by Christopher Coen on April 18, 2011
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia sent us a copy of the crash report for the single vehicle crash involving the 15-passenger Chevrolet 3500 van, and the report confirms their spokeswoman’s earlier statement that a tire blow-out was the apparent cause of the crash.
There were 13 refugees injured and two killed (one man was ejected out the back door of the van and decapitated ; the other man killed was thrown to the rear cargo area and entrapped). Injuries included fractured ribs, severe internal injuries, severe head injuries, a severed right hand, and the front passenger’s left arm was severed below the elbow (emergency personnel extricated him due to entrapment). The youngest passenger, a 20-year-old male Sudanese refugee, suffered a broken jaw (the driver and 12 passengers were Nepali-Bhutanese refugees, and there were two African refugee passengers). All of the 15 people were traveling to their Perdue chicken-processing factory jobs in Perry, 106 miles south of their homes in Atlanta. The report says that an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) official claimed that World Relief supplied the refugees with the jobs. There is no mention of RRISA, as in media reports.
Several witnesses in vehicles traveling in the same direction heard a loud sound before the van went out of control — one described it as a “pow” and another described it as a “pop”. The vehicle swerved off I-75, crossed the median, and hit a guard rail support on the other side — causing it to flip over front-to-back, land upside down on the guard rail, then make a full sideways roll and landing upside down.
The crash report also gives clues about the cause of the left rear tire blow-out. Both of the front tires were in very good condition (“like new”), with 3/4 inch tread depth on each tire. The two rear tires, however — both Uniroyal Laredo LT245/75R16 with load range E — were not in very good condition, with “some dry rot present”. The right rear tire had about 1/4 inch tread depth and the tread was partially torn. The left rear tire, the tire that failed before the crash, lost its tread during the crash leaving only the cords and steel belts exposed. There was also a tear on the left rear tire that went from outer sidewall to inner sidewall. So, perhaps the left rear tire blew-out due to severe wear and/or dry rot, and not due to tire over-inflation or under-inflation as I earlier surmised.
Another issue, according to a report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, is that these 15-passenger vans, when used as directed, with up to 15 passengers, are more likely to roll over, by 9-12 percent per passenger added, due to an increase in the height of the center of gravity. In other words, the purpose of the vehicle, to transport up to 15 passengers, is also the source of these vehicles’ risk. The higher the occupancy the higher the risk. I suspect, though, that fully loaded vehicles — with tires that are not properly maintained and replaced when necessary – are much more likely to have a tire blow-out initiating the rollover. A driver inexperienced with handling a large passenger van, especially a new driver inexperienced with driving any vehicle, would no doubt also increase the rollover risk due to inexperience with handling (although a fully loaded 15-passenger van that experiences a tire blow-out at high-speed would, no doubt, be extremely difficult if not impossible to control even for an experienced van driver).
Posted in ICE, World Relief, Nepali Bhutanese, transportation, meatpacking industry, employment/jobs for refugees, safety, Georgia, Atlanta, economic self-sufficiency, passenger van roll-over | Tagged: refugee, World Relief, resettlement, refugee resettlement program, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement agencies, meatpacking, human rights, Nepali-Bhutanese, Atlanta, Bhutanese refugees, sudanese refugee, Nepali refugees, georgia, Perdue, I-75, Chevrolet 3500, chicken processing, Perry, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, 15-passenger van, Chevy 3500, rollover, tire blow-out, meat processing, Ghanese refugee, Uniroyal Laredo LT245/75R16, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety | 4 Comments »
Posted by Christopher Coen on April 11, 2011
Just five days after I posted the story on a passenger van accident in Georgia involving refugees killed and injured there was yet another passenger van crash in Georgia involving refugees — on Wed. April 6, 2011. The Bhutan News Service reports that this time a Bhutanese refugee returning from a chicken processing plant in an automobile allegedly collided with a van carrying seven passengers while attempting to overtake the van. The van was also returning Bhutanese refugees to their homes in Atlanta after working at the chicken processing factory. The drive of the car is apparently missing.
A few resettled Bhutanese were injured when an overtaking car hit and veered off a van on Tuesday morning at 4:30 am local time. Of them, one is critical.
According to the report, Rohit Dhakal, 32, was seriously injured when a car driven by another resettled fellow of Beldangi-II allegedly collided with a van carrying seven passengers while overtaking…
…“He is critically injured and being treated in the hospital now,” Hemu told Bhutan News Service…
…The driver of the van, who received minor injuries, is reported to have told Hemu that the vehicle over-turned a number of times before its [tire] got blown off… Read more here
The former Bhutanese refugee who met with a car accident recently in Atlanta, GA has been in coma for four days.
According to Narad Sharma, a close relative who has been taking care of the victim since he met with an accident, the victim has been undergoing medical treatment at Grady Health System in South-east Atlanta.
“He underwent head surgery on the same day of accident, and has been scheduled for the next one tonight”, says Sharma adding the victim may have to undergo series of surgeries…the victim is out of danger but he may have brain haemorrhage that can have long term complications…
…Rohit met with an accident last Wednesday when he was returning from his work as the van driven by Amit Thapa, a fellow worker at the Chicken factory was overtaken by another speeding car. Read more here
Oddly, AccessNorthGA has an article from April 6th which reports that the crash occurred near Gainesville in northern Georgia, but that it happened after the van’s (a minivan) driver struck a curb, lost control, and then hit a tractor-trailer. That article lists a different first name for the van driver, although the same last name, and gives the accident time as 3:30am, though the Bhutan News Service said it occurred at 4:30am.
GAINESVILLE - At least one person was injured early Wednesday when a minivan and a tractor trailer collided on the southside of Gainesville.
Gainesville Police Officer Joe Britte said the accident happened when the driver of the minivan struck a curb as he tried to turn from Athens Highway onto the southbound Interstate 985 entrance ramp.
“It struck the curb then lost control of the vehicle and struck the tractor trailer,” he said.
.
“It struck the curb then lost control of the vehicle and struck the tractor trailer,” he said.
Britte said the driver of the minivan, 22-year-old Mahendra Thapa, was injured in the incident. He
said the driver of the tractor trailer, Grady Tritt, was not.
Britte said the accident, which occurred around 3:30a.m., is still under investigation.
Posted in Nepali Bhutanese, transportation, meatpacking industry, safety, Georgia, Atlanta, Hindu, passenger van roll-over | Tagged: refugee, IRC, resettlement, refugee resettlement program, refugee resettlement agencies, International Rescue Committee, Bhutan, Nepal, human rights, Nepali-Bhutanese, Atlanta, Bhutanese refugees, Nepalese refugees, passenger van crash, georgia, Perdue, chicken processing, Amit Thapa, Rohit Sharma Dhakal, Rohit Dhakal, Bhutan News Service, Narad Sharma, Grady Health System, brain haemorrhage, head surgery, achey, Sibsoo, Beldangi, Grady Memorial Hospital, Gainesville, Gainesville GA, Grady Tritt, Athens Highway | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on March 30, 2011
2002 Chevrolet 3500 extended
There’s been yet another tragic van roll-over accident involving refugees killed and severely injured — this time in Georgia, on I-75 between Atlanta and Macon. The deadly single-vehicle crash occurred on March 22 in Monroe county; two Bhutanese refugee men were killed and 13 other Nepali-Bhutanese and African refugees were injured. One of the men killed was also ejected from the vehicle. Several of the injured victims remain in the hospital in critical condition. This crash seems to involve the same (or similar) cause as a van roll-over crash in Arizona near Tuscon in June 2009 — failure of one of the van’s tires (may have been due to over-inflation, under-inflation, or road debris, etc.). The Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta (RRISA), a joint affiliate of Church World Service (CWS) and Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM), resettled the refugees in Atlanta. An article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution explains what happened.
A tight-knit community of refugees from Bhutan is reeling from a van crash that claimed the lives of two men and injured another 13 people as they traveled from Atlanta to their jobs at a chicken plant in Perry.
Some of the injured remained in critical condition in a Macon hospital Tuesday, according to people who know them. And some of the victims were parents whose children were left with no breadwinner…
…The crash occurred around 9 p.m. on March 22 in Monroe County. The Chevrolet 3500 van they were riding in went off the road, hit a guardrail and overturned, according to the website of the The Herald-Gazette newspaper in Barnesville. The crash blocked traffic on southbound I-75 for nearly three hours.
Two men, both from Decatur, died: Tula R. Chamlagai, 44, and Kharka B. Chhetri, 49…
…The van passengers were on their regular nightly commute to a Perdue chicken-processing plant two hours south of Atlanta. They had been making the trek five times a week, Kafley said.
Two of the victims were African nationals and the rest were refugees from Bhutan. They knew each other because they’d been brought to DeKalb County by the same resettlement agency, the Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta, Kafley said. Read more here
An article in The Telegraph in Macon gives more information:
…At least one of the passengers, either Chamlagai or Chhetri, was ejected from the van. It’s unknown whether any of the passengers were wearing seat belts, said Allison Selman-Willis, a sheriff’s office spokeswoman.
By the time we got there, people were everywhere,” she said.
It was unclear Wednesday whether members of the group were paying for the ride to Perry or if they were a carpooling group.
Thirteen of the vehicle’s occupants originally hailed from Asia. Two are from Ghana, Selman-Willis said.
The driver of the van, 29-year-old Bhim B. Bista of Atlanta, also owned the van. He was not tested for alcohol, she said.
“We don’t expect any charges for him,” Selman-Willis said.
Bista has been released from The Medical Center of Central Georgia. Three of his passengers underwent surgery Wednesday. The other surviving passengers were kept at the hospital Wednesday for observation, she said… Read more here
That article and an article in The Herald-Gazette newspaper in Barnesville indicates that the crash resulted from the failure of one of the van’s tires. I’m wondering if this was similarly due to tire over-inflation, as in the June 2009 Arizona (Texas Canyon) passenger van crash. In that tragedy six Burundian refugees resettled by IRC died; 11 others sustained injuries. The IRC was working with a company called Eurofresh that employed the refugees. In that case, the van was overloaded with passengers, the driver sped up to an estimated 80 mph to pass another vehicle, and a overinflated tire blew-out and the van hit a guide rail, resulting in a rollover.
How many of these tragedies must we have before we start doing something differently? It may just be a matter of regularly observing and checking tire inflation. On the other hand if any new, tiny leak or picking up a nail, or a blowout from an over-pressured tire, means that these top-heavy vehicles will lose control and roll, why do people continue to fully load these vans with refugee client passengers? Are resettlement agencies advising these refugees to keep tire pressure at correct levels and to not fully load them with passengers? If not, these tragedies will continue unabated.
**UPDATE** — Five injured victims discharged from hospital, two still critical, two have a hand amputated (Bhutan News Service). A commenter writes that [Sheriff's Office?] claims that it seems that none of the passengers was wearing seat belt.
Posted in Atlanta, Burundian, Georgia, meatpacking industry, Nepali Bhutanese, passenger van roll-over, Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta (RRISA), Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta (RRISA), safety, transportation | Tagged: Atlanta, bhutanese, Burundian refugees, Chamlagai, Chevrolet 3500, Chhetri, chicken processing, Church World Service, CWS, Decatur, EMM, Episcopal Migration Ministries, georgia, I-75, International Rescue Committee, IRC, Ken Briggs, Kharka B. Chhetri, Kharka Chhetri, meatpacking, Nepalese refugees, Nepali-Bhutanese, passenger van crash, Perdue, Perry, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement agencies, refugee resettlement program, refugees, resettlement, Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta, RRISA, Texas Canyon, Tucson, Tula Chamlagai, Tula R. Chamlagai | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on March 16, 2011
It looks as if the Catholic Diocese of Arlington switched from one type of disorganization to another from 2008 to 2010. A new State Department inspection report from 2008 indicates that the agency was placing refugee clients in Fredericksburg in housing with roach infestations, leaking windows and ceilings, and even demanded that a refugee sign an apartment lease without explaining it to her. She refused to sign it. A Burundian refugee father said that he appealed to the agency for six months to help him find a job but only worked about three days cleaning up shops.
Yet, two years later in 2010 local churches and volunteers were observing some very different forms of refugee neglect. Now, the agency was placing refugees in apartments without food or furniture and not giving refugees help with transportation. What is the rhyme and reason to these fluctuations?
If we assume that the State Department inspections — usually as rare as once in ten years — are at all effective, then what does it mean if noting one set of problems, and hopefully addressing them, simply leads to a sprouting of different problems?
One thing I know is that the State Department has no penalties for resettlement agencies’ failure to abide by even the minimum requirements of the government contracts. Could it be that the resettlement agency personnel sulk and pout over any criticism, and then temporarily fix the problems and then slack off on other minimum requirements? The reigning philosophy at many resettlement agencies seems to be that all problems are caused by 1) insufficient government funding (don’t raise the issue of the private funding they are supposed to raise to augment the public funding), 2) they don’t like having to do documentation of the services they claim to give refugees (who does like doing intensive paperwork?), 3) refugees are just so needy, and 4) hey, we just set up a new satellite office, so things won’t run well for a few years (what? refugees won’t even get food and a few used furnishings? why not?).
Whatever is happening, this case shows the limited effectiveness of current oversight in which 1) there are no penalties for failure to abide by contract obligations, 2) inspections are pre-announced, and 3) inspections are so rare that new problems can emerge in as a little as a few months or a year or two and the government inspectors won’t know until they come back ten years later.
It looks like we’re sorely overdue for a revamping of these inspections.
Posted in State Department, Burundian, faith-based, volunteers, employment services, Catholic, fredericksburg, Catholic Diocese of Arlington, churches, food, beds, transportation, community/cultural orientation, housing, substandard, fractious relationships with volunteers, furnishings, lack of, language interpretation/translation, lack of, Iranian, cultural/community orientation, post arrival, rats and roaches | Tagged: Burundian refugees, Catholic Diocese of Arlington, fredericksburg, inspection, Iranian refugees, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement agencies, refugee resettlement program, refugees, resettlement, State Department, U.S. Conference on Catholic Bishops, USCCB | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on March 4, 2011
A refugee client of Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, an affiliate of CWS and EMM, wrote to us today about deficient services at the agency. The refugee reported the following problems:
Here is a 2001 inspection report for Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston (the most recently available inspection report, which means they have not been inspected in quite some time).
Posted in Texas, faith-based, Christian, churches, beds, transportation, community/cultural orientation, housing, substandard, Houston, insufficient assistance with daily tasks, furnishings, lack of, employment/jobs for refugees, late health screenings, housing, rats and roaches, Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston | Tagged: Ali Al Sudani, Church World Service, CWS, Elliot Gershenson, EMM, Episcopal Migration Ministries, houston, Interfaith Ministries, refugees, resettlement | 1 Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on March 3, 2011
There is a new State Department monitoring report that we acquired via a FOIA that documents neglect of refugees. The State Department cited the Houston-based refugee resettlement agency, Alliance for Multicultural Community Services, an ECDC affiliate, for “partial-compliance” with their State Department refugee resettlement contract. Findings include:
- The Alliance had placed all three refugee families visited at home by monitors in housing with problems, including serious mold, roach infestation, and a serious plumbing problem that forced an Iraqi refugee family to move.
- A Burundian refugee woman did not know how to use either the stove or a thermostat in her apartment.
- The Burundian family’s second bedroom had no furniture, so the couple’s infant and 2-year-old toddler had to sleep in the parent’s room.
- The Burundian refugee family and a Burmese refugee family reported that the Alliance failed to give them required living-room furnishings, so the families had to garbage-pick sofas and chairs from dumpsters.
- The Alliance did not give refugees pocket-money, as required.
- The Burundian refugee family — with the infant and toddler — reported that the Alliance did not give them food or supplies for their infant upon their arrival as required, and that the Alliance did not use child safety seats when transporting the family to appointments.
- The Burmese refugee family reported that the Alliance did not have interpretation at the airport upon their arrival or during orientation. The Alliance finally hired someone who spoke their Karen dialect over four months after their arrival.
- Orientation to health care services in the area appeared to be incomplete, as both the Burundian and Burmese families expressed anxiety over their children’s medical needs and uncertainty about how to handle emergencies.
- The Burundian and Burmese families expressed anxiety over their prospects for self-sufficiency.
- The Alliance did not provide any structured training plan to new employees, as required.
- Refugee client case note logs contained minimal information, and often failed to record home visits. Monitors were often unable to verify that the Alliance provided refugee clients with the minimum-required services of the State Department refugee contracts (see contract documents – the Cooperative Agreement and Operational Guidance).
- Monitors noted Insect infestation in one or more refugee apartments.
- Monitors noted that the Alliance did not give some refugee(s) a ready-to eat meal upon arrival after long intercontinental flights, as required.
Then there are these comments about the Alliance from 2010. Note that three years after this State Department monitoring the Alliance is still putting refugees in substandard housing, etc.
So, in other words, the State Department noticed all these problems and three years later many of the problems have not ceased. What does that tell us about the effectiveness of the State Department monitoring trips? The State Department does not use any penalties for resettlement agencies’ they find in “non-compliance” or “partial-compliance” with the so-called minimum requirements of the State Department refugee contracts. Resettlement agencies don’t have to give back any of the government contract money they received for agreeing to provide minimum services and then not providing them.
Posted in Alliance for Multicultural Community Services, beds, Burma/Myanmar, Burundian, children, Cooperative Agreement, cultural/community orientation, post arrival, ECDC, food, furnishings, lack of, health, home visits, housing, housing, substandard, Houston, Iraqi, Karen, language, language interpretation/translation, lack of, meeting refugees at the airport, Operational Guidance, pocket-money, rats and roaches, State Department, Texas, transportation | Tagged: Alliance for Multicultural Community Services, Burmese refugees, Burundian refugees, ECDC, Ethiopian Community Development Council, houston, human rights, Iraqi refugees, Karen refugees, Kassahun Bisrat, refugee neglect, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement agencies, refugee resettlement program, refugees, resettlement, State Department | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on February 24, 2011
We recently received a new batch of State Department refugee resettlement agency monitoring reports. According to a 2007 monitoring report monitors found that Catholic Community Services Seattle (CCS) was only in “partial compliance” with it’s resettlement contract. Problems included the following:
- A Burmese refugee family of five lived in a two-bedroom apartment with their 19-year-old niece. The sleeping space did not seem adequate for this family, and two children did not have beds (note: the Operational Guidance contract document requires that agencies make sure housing has an appropriate number of bedrooms/sleeping areas and beds for refugee families). The 19-year-old and two children slept in one room with a six-year-old sleeping on the floor. The husband, wife, and a three-year-old child slept in another room, with the three-year old on the floor. The family said that they would like beds for the children, but there was not enough floor space. None of the beds had bed frames, as required. The family told monitors that car seats were not used for the children when the agency picked them up at the airport.
- A single Burmese male refugee lived with four roommates in a two-bedroom apartment. He expressed concern that no one had talked to him about a job or about his finances. He walked one hour to class and back and said he was not shown how to take public transportation. He slept in a room with two others. He did not have a bed frame and he stored his clothing on his mattress and in a plastic basket on the floor.
- A Burundian refugee family of six was living with a grown daughter in a two-bedroom apartment. There did not seem to be an appropriate number of bedrooms for the family. In one bedroom, a 19-year-old daughter, a four-year-old granddaughter, a seven-year-old son, and another grown daughter slept in three beds that they pushed together forming one bed due to lack of floor space. The husband, wife, and 11-year-old child slept in the second bedroom. The family also said that they needed cold-weather clothing for the children.
- A Somali refugee mother with two minor children said that CCS did not give her much help, especially when she requested transportation help for health appointments for her children.
- Case notes were so poor that monitors could not determine whether CCS had given refugees required services and/or material items.
If any of these issues seems small or petty, they are not. The State Department only requires refugee resettlement agencies to give refugees certain minimum-required services and material items, which are quite minimal (check out Operational Guidance). To not even meet these minimum requirements is 1) contract fraud, and 2) unethical (especially for a so-called faith-based agency, and 3) just wrong to do to these refugee people who have suffered so much already and need a few basic items and services to try to start a new life in America. Secondly, the taxpayers should be getting what they’re paying for.
Posted in State Department, Operational Guidance, Burma/Myanmar, Somali, Burundian, faith-based, Catholic, beds, transportation, community/cultural orientation, housing, overcrowding, clothes, furnishings, lack of, children, Seattle, Catholic Community Services Seattle | Tagged: Burmese refugees, Burundian refugees, Catholic Community Services, refugee neglect, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement agencies, refugee resettlement program, refugees, resettlement, seattle, Somali refugees, State Department, us catholic conference of bishops, USCCB | Leave a Comment »
Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
