It's got a bird's-eye view from the war zone to the neighboring state to the refugee transit route to the lucky few getting resettled here. But I can say to you in Oakland, in Sacramento, in San Jose, in Turlock, you can volunteer to make a differenceto someone's life. And if you want to make the world better, doing it one life at a time is a good place to start.
But there's also nutritional information on some of our patients. We resettled last year 15,000 people.
And then the other thing is, where are the channels? The resettlement agencies may get some people certified because some of the volunteers or support groups
So I saw that there could be more opportunities for resettlement and that there could be more opportunities to figure out how to help people become self-reliant if they can't resettle . And that's why I started this organization, RefugePoint.
And then he came to visit me, and I said, hey, I saw your name on the list of the people who are going to be resettled to the US. Because, as you know, US is always taking refugees from refugee camps, and then they bring them over here.
And the experience is really common across a lot of these refugee communities of resettlement in the US, where the resettlement process was really flawed. They were resettled in neighborhoods that had really high rates of poverty, high rates of unemployment, high rates of incarceration, at the height of the war on drugs. And a lot of them were funneled into the prison system, the criminal system, when they were teenagers and now decades later are facing deportation.
But there's also nutritional information on some of our patients. Andy Grove was a resettled refugee by the IRC, which is pretty extraordinary.
So there's been a build up, but very few solutions at the root causes. Very few refugees are resettled . So of the numbers you mentioned, Mike, maybe 1% only get resettled .
So they have professional staff and sponsor. Because the resettlement program in America is a private-public partnership. The idea is, it's so important to welcome refugees in your community.
Sure, sure. So I think it's easiest to talk about the founding of Upwardly Global because our founder-- and I'm not the founder of the organization-- was working in refugee resettlement. And while resettlement happens through nine different volunteer agencies throughout the country, the government also has some national services that help all of those volunteer agencies do their jobs,
was working in refugee resettlement. And while resettlement happens through nine different volunteer agencies throughout the country, the government also has some national services that help all of those volunteer agencies do their jobs, particularly with respect to, as Sussan said, employment.
They experienced the invasive medical examinations, the grueling interrogations, and they also And the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Program is not singled out for indefinite detention.
refugee camps they're being trapped by anti-immigrant policies that allow the that are creating barriers for them to move to places where they could resettle their families and restart their lives and this to me is one of the great moral challenges as well as just purely practical humanistic challenges that we face in the in the 21st
Essentially, what happens is when you flee your home, you're either going to go back home, or you're going to stay in the country to which you fled, or you're going to resettle to another country. So those are the three different options.
But there's also nutritional information on some of our patients. does the IRC approach refugee resettlement in today's environment where an increasing number of politicians and Western democracies are adopting anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy stance?
She's had over 25 years of experience working in the refugee humanitarian field and, in the course of her career, has worked for three of the nine resettlement agencies in the US in managing various aspects of their resettlement programs. She attended Wellesley College and also received her degree
So in the US, the US Resettlement Program traditionally has been different than other countries because our focus is employment, almost to our detriment. So the agencies-- there's nine resettlement agencies in America. There were more before the fall of communism, but now there's nine.
So that's why the problem exists and who it exists for. The refugees in America are resettled in some 300 communities across the country. So you can imagine where some of this plays out.
We have welcomed them. And we have also evacuated and resettled refugees in need. Yet throughout our history, we have also banned many immigrants-- the poor, the illiterate, and entire groups-- based on their nationality or religion.
And everywhere I went, I saw people who were overlooked. I also saw that the US Resettlement Program is one of about 30 countries worldwide that actively brings refugees here. And they have a pathway to citizenship.
into that country. So we have an opportunity to work with more North Korean defectors and refugees, helping them not only in their escape, but empowering them in their resettlement. The more successful they can become, the more opportunities that they have in order to be agents of change on this issue.
It doesn't let anybody go into Kenya proper. And there are no slots for resettlement abroad. And this is the crux of our current global refugee problem.
Something like that. He set a deadline. I think two million people UNHCR resettled in Europe, moving them around.
And just to pick out a couple of aspects to it-- one thing is genuinely unique about the IRC. We are both an international humanitarian aid organization and a local resettlement agency. So a refugee who's given permission to come to the US-- we meet them at the airport.
But there's also nutritional information on some of our patients. The US also gives a fixed amount-- $3,375 to get resettled .
And they come here. We receive them. The resettlement agencies, basically, receive them with sponsors in America. The responsibilities are to get people employed as soon as possible.
It was very, very difficult for the Western world to convince them that you have been so persecuted, you are unlikely to go back home. You know, resettlement might be the right thing for you. You have a chance at a new life.
People are forced to risk their lives to try to get to someplace better. So I saw that there could be more opportunities for resettlement and that there could be more opportunities to figure out how to help people become self-reliant if they can't resettle .
And at that refugee summit, he's going to say, among others, three things. He's going to say that we have to increase resettlement globally so that more refugees have opportunities to get to countries where they can rebuild their lives. We have to expand education opportunities because UNICEF just came out with a report that was mentioned in "The New York Times" this morning and yesterday how
generation. Because they grew up in a time where they never relied on the state and never received anything from them. And the last is the impact of defectors who have resettled in South Korea but maintain contact with their home communities. So since I don't have time to expound on all of these, what I want to do is actually talk primarily about number six,
But after two or three times, I got it. So I think that as we think about things like refugee resettlement, we have to think not just about individuals, but about communities and about what they would like.
But we don't have the tools to do that so systematically. All of them have left the country and are in the process of refugee resettlement somewhere else in the world.
and are now facing deportation, largely for criminal convictions. And the experience is really common across a lot of these refugee communities of resettlement in the US, where the resettlement process was really flawed. They were resettled in neighborhoods that had really high rates of poverty, high rates of unemployment, high rates of incarceration, at the height of the war on drugs.
But there's also nutritional information on some of our patients. I wanted to ask you a question about the design challenge of resettlement.
But there's also nutritional information on some of our patients. whether they're needing employment support in Jordan or whether they're needing resettlement here.
And it's like a lottery in a sense. If you get out of your country and have a chance at third-country resettlement, many refugees-- most of them, the bulk of them-- are in neighboring countries where, really, it's hard to welcome them because the neighboring countries are poor.
That's why organizations like yours are so important, but all of our work is so important. So in the US, the US Resettlement Program traditionally has been different than other countries because our focus is employment, almost to our detriment. So the agencies-- there's nine resettlement agencies in America.
Ethiopian Community and Development group that does the same work-- committee. So all of them have sponsors around the country that help with the resettlement. So they have professional staff and sponsor.
We do it with a real emphasis on early self-sufficiency. And so when refugees come in, the resettlement agencies, within 90 to 120 days, have to get you a job, help you with an apartment.
But in most cases, as we progress through our careers, we use our network to find our next job or an opening in that job. When you come through resettlement, when you come through family reunification, you are less likely to have that professional network. And then, there's other barriers.
And then the other thing is, where are the channels? But the arc, the trajectory that the resettlement agencies have is the long term, which is, we've seen refugees and immigrant communities over a long term.
I don't know. Tell me, when and why? through many, many things in El Salvador and resettled in the United States during the '80s.
I thought I was smart, but I was a little naive. They traveled halfway around the world, resettled , put down new roots, achieved middle-class status, raised a family, prospered, eventually
That's a massive humanitarian effort, 130,000 in those few short months. We had not established a concrete, centralized refugee resettlement program before. So the fact that we did that in those months is quite staggering.
They experienced the invasive medical examinations, the grueling interrogations, and they also of Syrian refugees, paused the overall refugee resettlement program, temporarily banned non-citizens from seven majority Muslim nations.
teams into the Congo and evacuate people from that country who were being attacked. And those people all eventually came to the US through our government's resettlement program. My boss, David, handed me a list with 112 names on it and sent me in on the last rescue mission.
that Turkey would try and prevent people from coming. And in return, Europe would give them a lot of money and they would resettle people legally. Unfortunately, it doesn't really work.
But after two or three times, I got it. But here in the United States, we have a policy that we try to resettle people sort of broadly across the country with the idea that
Claire and I came in 2000 after living in all those countries. And we came with the Organization International Migration, which resettles people who were seeking refuge all over the world. And it was a moment to be able to pause, definitely.
to those who are displaced by war, persecution, and natural disaster. So the IRC is now operating in more than 40 war-affected countries and also doing Refugee Resettlement, an assistance program here in the US in 28 cities.