http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/index/ en U.S. Department of State 2012-05-16T18:44:45+00:00
The 1980s saw primarily refugees resettling in the United States from Vietnam, Laos, and the Soviet Union. The 1990s brought large numbers of Bosnians as war engulfed the former Yugoslavia. In the 21st century, we welcomed refugees from Burma, Bhutan, Iran, Iraq and Somalia, among others, reflecting a more diverse and expansive refugee resettlement program.

Historically the United States has provided protection to such well-known individuals as former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Madeline Albright, Nobel Prize winner Albert Einstein, performer Gloria Estafan, and marathoner Mebrahtom Keflezighi.

The stories of many other lesser-known refugees reflect the same determination and perseverance:

- Mr. Bol B. Aweng, a "Lost Boy" from Sudan, came to the United States in 2001. He fled at the age of six, without his parents, when helicopter gunfire and aerial bombs destroyed his village. He saw friends shot, eaten by crocodiles, and die of food poisoning. He took refuge in Ethiopia and finally in Kenya before being resettled to the U.S. As a boy in the refugee camp, Mr. Aweng first began drawing in dirt and then on cardboard. He brought his love of art with him to the U.S. He graduated from Ohio State University in 2009, where he majored in Fine Arts, specializing in digital media.

- Mr. Bertine Bahige, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, arrived in the United States in 2003. When Mr. Bahige was fifteen years old, rebels came to his house and tried to forcibly recruit him. Traveling alone, he fled first through Zambia, then spent five years in a refugee camp in Mozambique. When he was resettled in Maryland, he worked multiple jobs and went to community college. In 2006, he was offered a scholarship to the University of Wyoming. Today, he serves as a high school and community college math teacher, soccer and cross-country coach, and liaison/interpreter for Spanish-speaking parents.

- Mr. Anh "Joseph" Quang Cao was the first Vietnamese-American elected to the U.S. Congress, serving Louisiana's second Congressional District from 2009 until 2011. Mr. Cao left his home country with his aunt and two siblings in a military transport plane three days before the fall of Saigon, while his mother and the rest of his family stayed behind to wait for his father.

- Mr. Wilmot Collins, from Liberia, arrived in the United States in 1994. Mr. Collins and his wife have been U.S. citizens since 2001. He is an administrative officer at the Veterans Hospital in Helena. He has an M.A. in Human Resources Management, and is working towards a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. He is also a member of the U.S. Naval Reserves.

- Mr. Aumer Hadi is an Iraqi refugee who resettled in Columbia, South Carolina in 2010. Following the Gulf War, Mr. Hadi and his family fled to Yemen, where they lived for eight years. With a computer science degree from Saba University in Yemen, Mr. Hadi has been able to use his education in the United States by helping his employer to develop software for the iPhone.

- Mr. Igor Kotler, originally from the Soviet Union, has lived in the United States for over 20 years. He is President and Executive Director of the Museum of Human Rights, Freedom and Tolerance. An accomplished scholar in human rights and world history, Mr. Kotler and others helped to capture 52,000 interviews of Holocaust survivors in 32 languages, representing 56 countries.

Less than one percent of refugees worldwide are ever resettled in a third country, estimates the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. But, in the words of one refugee, new life in the United States was "the beginning of my return to humanity."

This past year, more than 56,000 refugees from almost 70 countries, fleeing fear of persecution based upon race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group, found new homes in the United States. Until then, some lived in camps for years or even decades, such as the Burmese on the Thai border or Bhutanese in Nepal. Others, like Iraqis in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, or Somalis and Ethiopians in Kenya, eked out meager existences in temporary and uncertain urban dwellings.

Some came with family members, most came with few belongings, but all came with hope for the future.

In the end, all Americans benefit from our nation's open doors -- the refugees, those whose lives they touch, and communities strengthened by their contributions.

The Great Seal of the United States carries the motto "E Pluribus Unum." Ninety-nine percent of all Americans trace our heritage to foreign lands. Our founding fathers would be proud that our nation continues to offer a place of refuge to the most persecuted from many ethnicities, races and religions, who now call America home.

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Editor's Note: This entry appeared first on the Huffington Post.]]> http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/changing_lives/ 2012-02-27T21:52:45+00:00 Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) assists persecuted and uprooted people through our support to international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and by advocating for their protection through humanitarian diplomacy. From the Arab Awakening to the crisis in the Horn of Africa, global political upheaval and conflict have presented many humanitarian challenges, and as 2012 begins, I'd like to take a moment to share a few examples of the work we did last year.

Refugee Admissions: The United States welcomed more than 56,000 refugees to re-start their lives thanks to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. English as a Second Language pilot programs provided basic language training to hundreds of U.S.-bound refugees in Kenya, Thailand, and Nepal. Our overseas partners reported a significant increase in basic skills and confidence. We anticipate increased enthusiasm for studying English after arrival in the United States -- a key skill for newly arrived refugees when seeking employment to become self-sufficient in their new communities.

Africa: In Africa, we supported international organization and NGO efforts to assist some 170,000 Ivoirian refugees in Liberia as well as hundreds of thousands of Ivoirians who were internally displaced as a result of conflict in that region. This spring, turmoil in Libya forced over one million persons to cross into Tunisia and Egypt. In response, PRM supported the emergency evacuation and repatriation of stranded third-country migrants, assistance and protection efforts for refugees and internally displaced persons, and emergency medical care and protection programs for conflict victims and detainees. Our partnership in this effort with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was a model of multilateral humanitarian action at its best. In the Horn of Africa, conflict and famine in southern Somalia forced another 300,000 Somalis to flee in 2011, bringing the overall Somali refugee population in the region to nearly one million. PRM funding to international organization partners and NGOs provided shelter, food, and other assistance to Somalis in need, and we sponsored a series of colloquia in the region to bring affected governments -- especially those who have played an important role in hosting large numbers of Somali refugees -- and service providers together to begin developing a unified strategic plan to address the crisis.

Middle East: Supporting Iraqi refugees in the Middle East continued to be one of our top priorities. Inside Iraq, PRM assistance programs help support voluntary returns and reintegration, for example, though home reconstruction, rehabilitation of water and sanitation systems, employment services and protection assistance. In neighboring countries, our funding supports a range of services for Iraqi refugees, including education, health care, and food assistance. In Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza, PRM's continued contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) supported vital programs in education, health, and social services to five million Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's commitment to peace and tolerance is a force for stability in the region and is an indispensible counterweight to extremism.

South and Central Asia: PRM supported UNHCR as it built its two hundred thousandth shelter for Afghan refugees returning to Afghanistan. We continued to advocate and provide assistance for the 2.7 million Afghan refugees outside Afghanistan as well as for Pakistanis displaced by conflict and flood. In Nepal, PRM supported UNHCR protection and assistance to Tibetan refugees transiting to India. We continued to support UNHCR assistance to 55,000 Bhutanese refugees, many of whom are in the process of resettlement to the United States. With PRM funding, UNHCR and the Turkmenistan government conducted a country-wide registration campaign, identifying approximately 8,000 stateless persons. More than 3,000 verified stateless people were granted Turkmen citizenship, with more expected in the coming months. Turkmenistan also acceded to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons.

Western Hemisphere: PRM humanitarian diplomacy saw progress when the Panamanian government passed a law granting approximately 900 indigenous and Afro-Colombian refugees the ability to request residency and work permits. We promoted solutions to statelessness in the Dominican Republic. In Haiti, PRM focused on addressing the protection needs of earthquake-displaced Haitians and building government capacity to address gender-based violence and trafficking in persons, with an emphasis on assistance for vulnerable women and children.

Europe: Our diplomatic efforts and assistance programs in the Balkans worked towards a lasting solution for those displaced since the mid 1990s war. In November, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia signed a joint declaration aimed at providing durable housing solutions to the 74,000 most vulnerable refugees and internally displaced persons remaining in the four countries -- a landmark achievement.

Migration: PRM migration programs supported direct assistance to vulnerable migrants, government capacity building, and regional coordination and dialogues on migration issues. The United States played a leadership role in several regional and international governmental forums, chairing the Intergovernmental Consultations on Migration, Asylum and Refugees, the largest global forum for dialogue on migration and development issues.

Population: Last year, the global population reached 7 billion, providing multiple opportunities to highlight U.S. leadership in investing in women and girls as essential to solving the world's most challenging problems. Women and girls are the world's engines of change. When their rights are protected and promoted, when they are healthy and educated, and when they can participate fully in society, they trigger progress in families, communities, and nations. Promoting sexual and reproductive health, reproductive rights, and access to safe and effective voluntary methods of family planning are at the top of President Obama's global health agenda. PRM supported these goals by representing the U.S. government at meetings of the UN Population Funds' (UNFPA) Executive Board and at the annual session of the UN Commission on Population and Development.

Statelessness: Under the Secretary's leadership, the Department launched an initiative to promote women's equal right to nationality. At UNHCR's ministerial event in December commemorating the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1954 and 1961 Conventions on Statelessness, Secretary Clinton spoke about discrimination against women as a major cause of statelessness around the world. PRM also targeted statelessness of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic, addressing the issue in several public forums and supporting UNHCR and others as they seek solutions to this enduring problem.

What's in store for 2012? At the UNHCR ministerial, the United States renewed its commitment to displaced people by pledging to take concrete steps to address statelessness, women's nationality issues, protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) refugees and asylum seekers, and to improve detention and asylum practices. Our continued support to our international organization and NGO partners and our diplomacy in 2012 will help improve the lives of millions of persecuted people who have suffered through upheaval and tragedy.

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