Refugee Conference expresses hopes and needs

Intermountain Catholic

+ Enlarge

Former Mayor Palmer DePaulis (left), Dee Rowland, Diocesan government liaison, Bishop John C. Wester, and Adan Batar, director of Catholic Community Services Immigration and Refugee Resettlement Program attend the two-day Refugee Conference as a means of support and information. IC photo by Christine Young

SALT LAKE CITY — "Refugees were not receiving the services they deserved in Utah, so Utah Governor Jon M. Huntsman and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon got together to form a refugee work group in 2006," said Gerald Brown, director of the Refugee Services Office, at the Utah Refugee Conference Nov. 14-15.

The conference, "A New Day," was held at the University Park Marriott Hotel in Salt Lake City.

Brown said former Mayor Palmer DePaulis headed the refugee group, and after talking for a year, they came up with 12 pages of gaps in services. Out of those 12 pages they came developed five major recommendations that would make things better for the refugees.

The first was the creation of an empowered office to coordinate efforts. They also suggested a refugee advisory board to raise funds and advise the refugee office.

They called for private money to supplement the federal monies that support refugees. Another recommendation was a call to grow the capacity of the organizations which supported refugees. The final recommendation was that the State of Utah should contribute money. The Utah State Legislature contributed $200,000, to be used to help develop the capacity of refugee community organizations.

"All of those things have been done, but things are far from perfect," said Brown. "As you volunteers know, things are not good enough yet but we have started. The Refugee Office now has six full-time staff members under the Department of Work Force Services. There are four priorities for the first year. They are:

• Case management for all new refugee arrivals for two years.

• Capacity building for refugee organizations.

• A trained, organized, coordinated volunteer effort.

• Find housing. The biggest single problem is housing for refugees. There are 25,000 refugees in the Salt Lake Valley.

Governor Huntsman, in a Proclamation said, "Whereas, refugee resettlement is a critical tool for providing protection and durable solutions for refugees unable to return to their homes due to fear or experience of persecution.

Whereas, President George W. Bush of the United States approved 80,000 refugees can be resettled during this fiscal year continuing our nations historic tradition to provide a safe haven for the oppressed.

Whereas, refugees make tremendous contributions to our country through rich culture, diverse traditions, special talents, and a fervent value for freedom and democracy.

Who is a refugee? A refugee is a person with a well founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Statistical evidence confirms that most refugees flee to neighboring countries and that they remain within their region of origin.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that some 1.6 million refugees (14 percent out of the total of 11.4 million) refugees live outside their region of origin. Most of them, 83 to 90 percent stay within their region or in neighboring countries. They do not flee to the United States.

Historically refugees leave their homes because of war. People have fled in fear of violence or because they have lost all of their possessions in the fighting. In these cases, the warring parties did not have the displacement of civilians as a major tactic.

States which have signed the 1951 Convention are legally committed to protect the rights of refugees who arrive in their country and to enforce the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the deportation of refugees to places where their lives or freedoms could be in danger. Refugees also have civil and economic rights. In practice, this protection has often taken the form of refugee camps.

The Most Rev. John C. Wester had just returned from a trip to Bangladesh, India, San Francisco, and Washington, D. C., where he attended a United State Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCC) meeting, when he addressed the refugee volunteers.

"All of us in this room, are giving a voice to the voiceless," said Bishop Wester. "Standing here today, I can’t help but think of a few weeks ago when I was in Bangladesh in one of the authorized refugee camps. A gentleman came up to me, and he had his English grammar book in his hand. He was so proud and very formal. He wanted to speak to me on behalf of his people. They wanted me to know they need help. Many of our parents have been here for more than 20 years, and their lives are on hold. We can’t have this have happen to our children. We need somebody to do something for us. He was so dear. I said to him, we will certainly do what we can to take your speech, which I affirm and admire, and to echo and magnify your words wherever I go.

"So what you are doing is taking his words and making them real, putting flesh on them," said Bishop Wester.

Bishop Wester spoke of the various groups of refugees he spent time with in Bangladesh and India, as well as North Eastern China, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

"These have been rich experiences for me, a great grace in my life," said Bishop Wester. "It has allowed me to have a real face on the refugees, which so many of you have who work with the refugees who come here. I think that is so very important.

"I realize there is much more that needs to be done, but nonetheless, there was real hope. The government does have a welcoming attitude in trying to do what they can realizing their own citizens are living in abject poverty as well," said Bishop Wester. "The situation is very dire. As I was leaving, I saw signs that said support the zoo, which is a good thing, but a lot of these refugee camps remind me of that kind of environment. But what struck me was the quality of cleanliness. The animals have it better. I think we need to have a certain sense of urgency that this is not a situation that can continue to go on.

"You and I know there are almost 13 million refugees throughout the world, and this fact is a sad fact symbolic of humanity’s failure to love one another, to live in peace, and to solve the most urgent of our issues in the world," said Bishop Wester. "Refugees are indeed the homeless of the world. They are found in all areas of the world from Latin America to Europe, and from Africa to Asia."

Bishop Wester said this year in the Catholic Church, and in our local diocese through Catholic Community Services and Adan Batar, director of Immigration and Refugee Resettlement, we have helped to resettle almost 18,000 refugees from around the world. I am very proud of all the work that you are doing to help these people begin a new life and hold on to that precious gift of hope. Refugees are a gift to our country. They are hard workers and survivors."