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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
surround them, and our country's policies towards them. We're going to hope to cover US policy, as well as practices with regards to resettlement of both refugees and immigrants. We'll talk about the differences between refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, and immigrants, as we often don't talk about the nuance
for the past eight-plus years. As we'll hear later, Up-Glo's work grew out of the resettlement system and is the first and longest-serving organization to support the integration of skilled refugees and immigrants into the US workforce.
Nikki has received her MBA from Columbia and has a bachelor's degree in policy analysis from Cornell. So to kick things off, I'd like to just baseline a little bit on resettlement as a topic, in general. I'm going to turn to Sussan.
But it's everybody. It's carpenters, it's journalists, it's everybody. It's anybody. You started mentioning-- I know you've worked for a number of the resettlement organizations. Can you tell us a little bit about the process that those organizations go through to help families, to help individuals?
And so our primary immigration policy in the country is family reunification. We also, of course, have a policy of refugee resettlement , where you're getting a skilled population coming through, and then also, the diversity card lottery. So through those three channels alone, you get a million people coming in a year.
And then the other thing is, where are the channels? And we're now doing that with a technology platform and a portal that we can license to partners like the resettlement system.
And we flew out to a refugee camp in a neighboring country, Cameroon. And from there, those people went through the US resettlement process and then came to the US. And I've watched them all rebuild their lives here.
But after two or three times, I got it. But among the matching markets I'm a little bit thinking about these days as I read about refugee resettlement , it turns out refugee resettlement policies
First, Sussan Khozouri is the Senior Director of Philanthropy and Partnerships at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as the JDC. 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.
has grown so much over the past, particularly, 10 years or so. OK. Hello, everybody. So I'll focus on resettlement in the US. But just for perspective, the situation right now in Syria is definitely the thing that has turned the pendulum
have to go through a lot of security clearances. Basically, you go through a UN agency called the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, who, then, refers you for resettlement to one of many countries in the world. Your papers go through.
And just a quick follow-up-- how long do those support systems last? Does it differ? So it's very short in terms of the contract with which, let's say, the resettlement agencies have with state departments. So it's between 90 to 120 days that the relationship really is there.
But the other side is also part of the story as well. As today's headlines bring news of deportation raids, President Trump's executive orders, a halt to the refugee resettlement program, and the travel ban on non-citizens from now six majority-Muslim countries, we know that Asian-Americans have been part of this story
They experienced the invasive medical examinations, the grueling interrogations, and they also by undocumented immigrants. On January 27th, President Trump signed an executive order that indefinitely suspended the resettlement
And I went house to house, door to door, for leftover food in the mornings and nights. And in Southeast Asia, there are countries there where they are recognized, or where they do have an opportunity, then, to apply for refugee status or for resettlement
The birth rate in Dadaab is 1,000 a month. Now the US, to give you some kind of perspective, takes around 1,000 people from Dadaab every year for resettlement . There's no way-- the UK takes around 100.