Friends of Refugees

A U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program Watchdog Group

Archive for the ‘UNHCR’ Category

Utica Uses Refugees To Boost Population Level

Posted by Christopher Coen on February 13, 2012

Its clear that political officials in various declining US regions have decided that our country’s humanitarian refugee resettlement program should be used in concert with these cities’ needs. A major Utica publication backs this assertion up with few questions asked. (I like the efficiency of killing two stones with one bird, but what about giving the refugees a say in the matter?)

Apparently the UNHCR has also used its own propaganda on refugees, via its Refugee publication, to make them think that Utica is some sort of paradise – christening it “The town that loves refugees” – even though the unemployment and poverty rates are high, and gangs vie for the loyalty of young refugees. A Utica refugee resettlement agency also sings it own praises as “a one-stop shop for services” (I’ve heard this issue from journalists in other cities who say that local resettlement agencies also put that issue front and center — seems diversionary. Why does it merit public discussion?)

On the other hand some Utica locals apparently believe dubious rumors that refugees take people’s jobs, are given free houses, and don’t pay taxes for seven years (that’s a new one). An editorial in The Utica Post-Standard shows the paper’s editorial board as apparently 100 percent behind the region’s use of refugees to increase the population:

Like many Rust Belt cities, Utica was declining in the 1980s and ’90s. A city that once numbered more than 100,000 citizens dropped perilously close to 50,000.

Then a remarkable thing happened: First a trickle, then a steady stream of refugees began arriving…They kept on coming, because they found a warm reception.

“We foster conditions that make for a welcoming environment,” says Peter Vogelaar, executive director of the Mohawk Valley Resource Center…

…Vogelaar explained why the city has been an ideal refugee haven. Utica’s infrastructure accommodates the new arrivals…Then there’s the resettlement center itself — “a one-stop shop for services,” Vogelaar says.

An article in the U.N. publication “Refugee” calls Utica “The town that loves refugees.” And the 14,000 refugees who came over the past 30 years returned the favor. They bought houses — many of them vacant — fixed them up and began paying property taxes. They planted community gardens and started successful businesses. The city’s ethnic restaurants are winning wide acclaim…

…Resettlement has not been problem-free. Housing prices are rising faster than some would like. Gangs vie for the loyalty of young refugees. New immigrants keep the poverty rate high, and schools struggle with students who still need to learn English.

Some still cling to stereotypes, Vogelaar added. “That darn foreigner takes my job, is given a house, doesn’t pay taxes for seven years — it’s all false rumors,” he said. “They get labeled ‘problem people.’ The reality is, they have faced untold problems, yet they are the resilient ones. They came through it all to make new lives.”… Read more here

Posted in employment/jobs for refugees, Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees, population levels, using refugees as pawns to boost, safety, UN (United Nations), UNHCR, Utica | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Senior Official Says Intelligence Indicates Security Threat Much Broader Than 2 Iraqi Refugees in KY

Posted by Christopher Coen on February 5, 2012

A senior Obama administration official says that intelligence indicates the security threat is much broader than the two Iraqi refugees arrested in May in Bowling Green, Ky., and accused of plotting to send weapons and cash to al-Qaeda in Iraq. The Obama administration is still trying to come up with a solution that balances national security with its moral obligation to assist Iraqis who cannot safely live in their country. The UNHCR thinks the security net is set too wide. An article in USA Today discusses the issue:

…WASHINGTON – The Obama administration has dramatically slowed the resettlement of Iraqi refugees — including former U.S. military translators and embassy workers — in the midst of growing concerns about al-Qaeda’s potential ties with some asylum seekers, an administration official says.

Two Iraqi refugees who resettled in the United States in 2009 were arrested in May in Bowling Green, Ky., and are accused of plotting to send weapons and cash to al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, says that intelligence indicates the threat is much broader than the two refugees…

…“That threat stream led us to re-examine our vetting process for this population and really all of the refugee population,” the official said…

…In September, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a Senate panel that security checks have been expanded and that more than 57,000 who were already in the United States have been revetted…

…The details of what the enhanced security checks entail are not shared publicly, but refugee information is likely being checked against security, forensic and intelligence databases that were not among those covered by the other security checks, according to the UNHCR…

…”Of course we support the U.S. and all countries having security checks,” UNHCR spokeswoman Charity Tooze said. “It seems that in this instance the net is so wide a huge amount of people who we don’t see as a security threat are getting caught in it.”…

…The Obama administration has held several interagency meetings on the issue since last summer and is trying to come up with a solution that balances national security with its moral obligation to assist Iraqis who cannot safely live in their country, administration officials say…Read more here

Posted in Dept of Homeland Security, Iraqi, Obama administration, security/terrorism, UNHCR | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Refugee Congress elected by government resettlement contractors

Posted by Christopher Coen on August 7, 2011

It seems like each time refugees resettled to the US have contact with the federal government resettlement contractors first select them. Yet, does anyone ever stop to think how this practice fails to promote our democratic ideals? I think that contractors are trying to control the message(s) that reach government and elected officials. The Fairfax Times explains the story of one of the refugee delegates, an Afghan journalist.

A long way from home, Afghan journalist Nazira Karimi remains undeterred in her effort to tell the story of her country.

As part of this effort, Karimi has joined a panel of 50 refugees participating in the first Refugee Congress in Washington, D.C.

The event, held Wednesday and Thursday on Capitol Hill, was hosted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees — a two-time Nobel Peace Prize-winning agency.

The goal of the event is to raise public awareness of refugees living in the U.S. as well as to discuss issues facing this population, spokeswoman Charity Tooze said.

“The Refugee Congress stemmed from the idea that people affected most by refugee policies should be involved [in the discussion of policies],” she said. “A lot of times, politicians speak for refugees. We want to put refugees at the table with people who make decisions.”…

…Delegates were nominated by nongovernmental refugee organizations. About 200 people were nominated, Tooze said, and then 50 were chosen based on their experiences and community involvement.

“This is not a one-time thing,” Tooze said of the Refugee Congress. “We’re hoping this is an annual event. We see this as the beginning of a movement to give refugees more of a voice … and power.”

Remembering how difficult her resettlement to the U.S. was, Karimi said she hopes that she and other delegates can help make future resettlements easier.

…During this week’s gathering, refugee delegates drafted a proclamation with some recommended changes to U.S. policy regarding refugee resettlement efforts. The proclamation will go to the U.S. Congress first, then on to the annual meeting of the United Nations Secretariat in Geneva, Tooze said.

“Delegates meet in the day to discuss refugee policy and their experiences in resettlement,” she said. “There’s a lot of energy, a lot of dynamics. … We have people who are 80 years old and people in their 20s. … What they have in common is their shared [refugee] experiences.”… Karimi would like to see resettlement programs offer more emotional help to refugees… Read more here

I have a proposal –  that refugees who want to meet with government and elected officials be free to do so, and that they be allowed to rise from their own grass-roots.

Posted in Afghan, Congress, democracy, UN, UNHCR | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Those who seek Asylum

Posted by Christopher Coen on December 1, 2010

There is a good, succinct article about asylum in Immigrant Connect Chicago. Asylum-seekers (asylees) are different from refugees only in that they arrive in the U.S. and ask for asylum, as opposed to being outside of the U.S. and applying for refugee status. Both asylees and refugees are people who claim a credible fear of persecution or torture in their home country based on race, religion, membership in a political or social group and political opinion.

…In 2009, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) revised procedures to allow asylum seekers to be released from detention after passing a credible fear interview if they “establish their identities, pose neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community, have a credible fear of persecution or torture, and have no additional factors that weigh against their release.” According to UNHCR, which has published documents regarding the debate on detention, many of those who were detained among criminals were “not there by virtue of having committed a crime, but due to a breach of administrative procedures.”

“An asylum-seeker is someone who says he or she is a refugee, but whose claim has not yet been definitively evaluated,” according to UNHCR. In the credible fear interview upon arrival, an asylum officer determines whether or not the individual can claim the need for asylum based on their “credible fear of persecution or torture” in their home country, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Between October 2009 and May 2010, a credible fear was established in 3,519 of the 4,504 interviews conducted, according to USCIS. Those who are determined not to have a credible fear may request review of the decision by an immigration judge. If no request for review is submitted or if the judge reaffirms the negative decision, applicants are sent back to their home countries. If the interviewer determines that there is a credible fear, the applicant continues the process in court where they may present a claim for asylum to an immigration judge.

The immigration judge’s decision depends upon a reasonable fear of persecution based on race, religion, membership in a political or social group and political opinion. The burden of proof is on the applicant to justify their fears. The success often depends upon whether or not the asylum seeker is represented by an attorney, according to Hughes. Eighty percent of applicants with attorneys are granted the status they seek while only 20 percent are granted asylum when not represented.

Many of the judges are former lawyers with “the other side,” according to Edget Betru, an immigration attorney at Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta. Because of their involvement with the Department of Homeland Security and similar agencies, “they’re coming with a certain perspective or bias already,” says Betru.

In certain cases, the judge’s personal knowledge about the issue at hand may play an important part… Read more here

Posted in asylees, Dept of Homeland Security, ICE, immigration courts, immigration services, Nigerian, Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta (RRISA), Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta (RRISA), UNHCR, USCIS | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Efforts to root out corruption at UN collapse in ruins

Posted by Christopher Coen on July 20, 2010

The Washington Post is reporting that efforts to root out corruption at the United Nations have collapsed. 
 

UNITED NATIONS — The outgoing chief of a U.N. office charged with combating corruption at the United Nations has issued a stinging rebuke of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, accusing him of undermining her efforts and leading the global institution into an era of decline, according to a confidential end-of-assignment report. 

The memo by Inga-Britt Ahlenius, a Swedish auditor who stepped down Friday as undersecretary general of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, represents an extraordinary personal attack on Ban from a senior U.N. official. The memo also marks a challenge to Ban’s studiously cultivated image as a champion of accountability. 

Shortly after taking office in 2007, Ban committed himself to restoring the United Nations’ reputation, which had been sullied by revelations of corruption in the agency’s oil-for-food program in Iraq. 

But Ahlenius says that, rather than being an advocate for accountability, Ban, along with his top advisers, has systematically sought to undercut the independence of her office, initially by trying to set up a competing investigations unit under his control and then by thwarting her efforts to hire her own staff. 

“Your actions are not only deplorable, but seriously reprehensible. . . . Your action is without precedent and in my opinion seriously embarrassing for yourself,” Ahlenius wrote in the 50-page memo to Ban, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. “I regret to say that the secretariat now is in a process of decay.” … here 

This matter will also seriously affect the efforts to reform the UNHCR, which the US is highly dependent on for processing and referring refugees to our resettlement program. It also shows just how difficult it is to root our bureaucratic corruption, which is an abject lesson for Americans when viewing our own government. This is neither a liberal nor conservative issue as no matter what our political perspectives are we all stand to gain from accountable institutions. 

We should never underestimate the constant potential for governments and the UN to degrade into corruption, as well as the efforts that bureaucracies will make to protect their powers. 

Posted in UN, UNHCR | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

 
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