The Refugee Journey

Each refugee’s story, itself unique, is ripe with astonishing feats of survival, compassion, courage, and hope. War, unrest, upheaval: the terrible causes of flight from one’s home country. Families and survivors seek safety, protection, and refuge in a border country not their own. Through a complicated, interrelated series of charters, treaties, pacts, and obligations the international community unites—as best they can—to offer safety, protection, and refuge to those who have fled. The refugee remains resilient, fighting to avoid anonymity in the complex sea of legal processes, which are inextricably linked to politics. The refugee is confronted with an array of choices. To stay, to search out new livelihood, to begin a new, to return, to rebuild (should such an option exist), to reinvest? Or to risk and apply for resettlement? It is here, at this juncture, that the refugee journey truly begins.

The United States boasts one of the world’s foremost refugee resettlement programs, officially resettling the highest percentage of refugees worldwide each year. Under the direction of the U.S.State Department, resettlement agencies across the U.S. work tirelessly to provide basic needs for those who are tired, poor, weary, yearning to breathe free. Despite this position as a global leader in refugee resettlement, the US officially resettles, less than 1% of the world’s refugee population (approximately 80,000 per year of the 25 million refugees worldwide).

Frequently we romanticize the refugee resettlement experience. These individuals who had so little are now sharing in our abundance; the downtrodden are finally able to enjoy a western standard of living. It is here at this crossroads, that we as a society tend to close the book on the refugee journey. In our minds they are resettled, they are safe, they are free. When, in fact it is at this juncture, that one can say the refugee journey really begins.

For nearly 30 years the U.S. State Department allotted resettlement agencies $425 per person to provide all the basic services newly arrived refugees need within their first 30 days in the U.S. The list of necessary services includes: apartment deposit, lease and first month’s rent, new bed, basic apartment furnishings, one week of food, etc. Mercifully this meager sum was doubled during the Obama administration’s first year in office to $850 per person. However, resettlement agencies must still rely heavily on outside funding, in-kind donations, and other forms of charity to meet these first, most basic needs.

Refugees, per US resettlement standards, are then expected to achieve self-sufficiency within the first six months after arriving to the United States. Resettlement agencies work diligently to enroll refugees in the appropriate federal and state welfare programs that provide anywhere from 8 months to 3 years of services, depending on the family.. Many refugees arrive without English proficiency or basic literacy skills. Resettlement agencies must enroll these individuals in English classes, when free services are provided. Simultaneously, refugees must begin to look for work, enroll their children in school, learn a new culture and attempt to assimilate, while simultaneously begin to grapple with the mental and emotional challenges that have befallen them.

At the end of the refugee’s first six months in the United States their cases are relinquished from the resettlement agency’s caseload, due to a lack of funding for extended services. Some cities have post-six month agencies that rely solely on donors to provide more long-term services. In most cities no such services exist. It is here the refugee finds him or herself at a curious juncture: sink or swim? And, it is here that our society, if it has not already, completely forgets the refugee. And, it is here, if we watch closely, that we can see the truly inspirational aspects of the human spirit come to fruition. Refugees are resilient, they are fighters, and they are capable, courageous survivors. Political pawns cast about on the seas of international good intentions and then forgotten, washed up on a foreign shore. Yet refugees rise.

Other facts:

The U.S. resettles only certain groups of refugees through a quota system. The U.S. currently accepts refugees from Iraq, Burma (with the exception of the ethnic Rohinga), Somalia, DRC, Burundi, Cuba, and Bhutan. Others may apply if they have blood relatives already in the U.S. from another specified list of countries, under P-2 status (ex: Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, etc). The US expects to begin resettling Darfurnians and the Rohinga before the close of 2011.

Current resettlement standards do not provide adequate mental health or basic health services. Due to the economic recession, even refugee’s Medicaid services have been cut, with some states eliminating access to dental care, and physical therapy—a serious issue for torture survivors. Mental health issues tend to present themselves after the initial shock of resettlement wears off. Studies have shown this occurs around month four or five. However, due to overworked, underfunded resettlement agencies and a lack of resources many of these potentially serious mental health concerns are unable to be addressed, leading to a plethora of issues for the refugee, their family and the community as time progresses.

Refugees are not subject to the five-year bar on U.S. welfare services that other immigrants are. However, they are subject to U.S. standards of monetary disbursements and requirements. Thus, like countless Americans living below the poverty line, these refugees are often unable to make their rent payments after the six-month resettlement services end. Refugees are ending up homeless as a result.

While the U.S. lays claim to being the host of the largest number of resettled refugees, it is important to note that we score far, far below the international average on services provided to the client upon arrival. Nations like Sweden, Denmark, and Canada boast the better resettlement services.

There is not a great deal of distinction between refugees and immigrants. Debate stems from the query as to whether or not this distinction should be made. Regardless, as it stands, refugees are also subject to discrimination and other issues inherent in immigrant communities.

Posted by Dani Grisby, intern extraordinaire. Contact her at grigsby@miracoalition.org.