Walk with Refugees

Another refugee story we are highlighting can be found in a recently published CNN article linked below.

The article reports on a Rohingya Muslim teenager, Noor Kayas, who has been staying in a refugee camp in Cox Bazaar, Bangladesh. As a result of poor conditions and a complete lack of protection for women and girls staying in the camp, Kayas chose to board a boat with 87 other Rohingya Muslims, 65 of which were women and girls. The boat set sail on February 11, 2021, and ran into an unknown issue while in India’s jurisdiction. Conditions on the boat were severe as there were limited supplies and the women and girls were vulnerable to male attacks.

The Indian Coast Guard supplied food and water to the refugees from February 22nd to mid-March. The refugees were not allowed to disembark in India or anywhere else, so they were stuck on the boat for that entire period. Around mid-March the Indian Coast Guard stopped sending supplies to the boat and the boat disappeared. There is nobody currently looking for this boat and the Indian government has not stated what happened to the refugees on board.

We highly recommend reading the entire article to grasp the severity of the situation Noor Kayas and the other refugees are in. Rohingya Muslims, especially the women and girls, are not being protected in refugee camps and are in a situation where they must flee for their safety yet again.

tw: sexual assault, abuse

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/25/asia/rohingya-refugees-lost-at-sea-intl-hnk-dst/index.html

In our next series, we will highlight resources to find different refugee stories. These stories can all be found on our website under “Further Information- Refugee Stories.”

The Refugee Council of Australia is an NGO that focuses on policy, support for refugees, support for its members, community education, and administration. Their website features stories of refugees who have been relocated to Australia and have successfully integrated into their new communities.

One of these stories is about Tony Le Nguyen, who left Vietnam when North Vietnam won the war in 1975. After his father was imprisoned for being an interpreter in the South Vietnamese army, Tony and his mother fled Vietnam and faced a dangerous journey to reach a refugee camp on the Thai border. Tony was later resettled in Melbourne, where is now an actor and involved community member. Some of his community work includes advocating for prisoner rights and working with the Quang Minh Buddhist Temple to organize cultural and social events.

Read more at https://www.walk-with-refugees.com//refugee-stories

Our news story this week is about navigating vaccinating refugee populations in the US.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa has had some success in getting their refugee population vaccinations. Cultural differences, language barriers, lack of transportation, and failure to make vaccine availability known has led to hesistancy among refugee populations to get vaccinated. Bonnie Lunsford, McCauley Center’s health care navigator, has been working to put out flyers in different languages and direct refugees to a website that features videos from people in their own community talking about the benefits of the vaccine.

These measures have begun to pay off as 30 refugees in the area have recently been vaccinated.

Read more at https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-immigrant-and-refugee-population-turn-out-at-iowa-vaccine-clinic/36275338

The final resettlement phase is arrival!!! After a harrowing flight, a several year-long application process, and extensive security checks, refugees finally land in the United States and can begin building their new lives. This is by no means a quick and easy process, but they now have the opportunity to not only get back on their feet, but also flourish in the safety of their new home.

Read more here: https://www.walk-with-refugees.com/in-detail-resettlement-process

After receiving a cultural orientation and domestic assignment, refugees finally get to travel to the United States. The International Organization for Migration makes all of the travel arrangements, and then the US Customs and Border Protection's National Targeting Center screens each of the incoming refugees. The refugees also have to go through the Transportation Security Administration's Security Flight Program. If any concerns are raised during this process, the refugees are not allowed to enter.

Read more here: https://www.walk-with-refugees.com/in-detail-resettlement-process

During his campaign, Biden promised to raise the refugee admissions cap from Trump’s historically low one, but he has failed so far to follow through on that promise. While an executive order removed many of the restrictions against certain refugees, such as those included in the Muslim Ban, Biden has only admitted 2,050 refugees at the halfway point of this fiscal year. At this pace, only 4,510 refugees will be admitted into the US at the end of the fiscal year, a number considerably lower than Trump’s final year.

The only step left in raising the admissions cap is for Biden to sign a presidential determination. It is currently unclear why Biden has avoided doing so, and the delay is highly unusual. This is concerning because thousands of refugees that were expected to enter the United States this year are now waiting in limbo for a future that may not arrive any time soon.

Read more at https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-refugees-trump-policies-intact/2021/04/11/d3cd4c36-9aef-11eb-9d05-ae06f4529ece_story.html

We remember.

Fourteen years ago today, Virginia Tech lost 32 family members in a tragic shooting on campus. One of those students was Austin Michelle Cloyd, a freshman double majoring in International Studies and French. She was an engaging, compassionate young woman who loved working with kids and fighting for social justice.

Though her life was cut short on April 16, 2007, her legacy lives on. Austin's parents created a fellowship in her honor to fund future students' efforts to promote social justice. In so doing, they found a way for Austin to continue her life's mission to work with others to change the world. That fellowship is now supporting Walk With Refugees, and we will not forget.

In every action we take, we remember Austin. We remember her drive, we remember her compassion, and we remember her love for life. It is our hope that our advocacy for refugees will add to her legacy and fill some of the void left by her passing.

Please visit Austin's remembrance page: https://www.remembrance.vt.edu/biographies/cloyd.html

Phase seven of the refugee resettlement process involves offering resources to help candidates adjust to American culture while also considering a compatible location for them. Cultural orientation classes allow applicants to understand how to live in American society. An NGO reviews the applicants’ file and considers an area in the U.S. that will be a good fit for the applicant, such as an area where family members already live. Before confirming that the applicant will be admitted to the US, recurrent security checks must continue to not produce red flags.

The sixth phase of the resettlement process involves medical examinations to determine if applicants will be healthy enough to make the transition to the US. Applicants who have significant medical issues that will keep them from resettlement are denied at this point, and medical aid is given to those with communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis.

Biometric security checks form the basis of the fifth phase in the resettlement process. US government employees take fingerprints from applicants and screen them against THREE separate databases, which include watch-lists, previous immigration lists, and records from Iraq and other high risk countries. If these checks reveal ANY security concerns, cases are halted and those candidates are prohibited from resettling in the United States.

Sadly, trials for refugees do not end once they finally resettle. While many build new lives and strive to contribute to their new homes, natural born citizens often hinder this process out of fear and hate. One Syrian refugee in Germany faced this just last week when he was forced to withdraw his parliamentary bid in Germany because of threats against him and his family.

Read the full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/31/syrian-refugee-drops-out-of-german-parliament-election-after-threats

The fourth phase of the resettlement process is conducted by the Department of Homeland Security. Trained USCIS officers interview candidates for resettlement. If new information raises questions during this process, the officers will place cases on hold to conduct further research, re-interview candidates, and/or perform further security checks.