CCS of Utah marks World Refugee Day

Friday, Jun. 24, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — The numbers are staggering: More than 65 million people around the world have been driven from their home countries by war and persecution. 

Fleeing their homes in fear of their lives, they seek safety in another country; about a third of them “are warehoused in refugee camps” from which fewer than 1 percent are resettled, said Adan Batar, director of Catholic Community Services of Utah Immigration and Refugee Resettlement, which has brought in refugees since 1975.

Most of the estimated 1,200 refugees who will come to Utah this year are fleeing from unrest in Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Afghanistan and Burma/Myanmar. They join the estimated 45,000 refugees who have settled in Utah over the years from conflict in countries such as Vietnam, the former Soviet Union, Bosnia, Iran and Liberia.

Refugees are persons who have been forced to leave their country because of war, persecution or natural disaster.

“These are people who have experienced so much of the worst that there is that goes on in the world,” said Asha Perekh, director of the state’s Department of Workforce Services’ Refugee Services Office. “How we welcome them and what we do for them says so much about who we are as a group of people because they come with open arms and gratitude.”

In 2001, the United Nations designated June 20 as World Refugee Day; in Utah, celebrations throughout the month included the June 2 Salt Lake Community College Refugee Leadership Training Graduation, a June 4 festival in Liberty Park that included cultural entertainment, and a June 16 Business Networking Hiring Refugees event sponsored by CCS. 

Worldwide, the Catholic Church has helped millions of refugees “because it’s the right thing to do,” Batar said. “They are coming here to rebuild their lives and to start all over.” 

CCS offers many services for refugees, including coordinating the Parish Refugee Resettlement Ministry, in which individual parishes welcome refugees and help them transition into American Life. 

For the first six months after refugees arrive in Utah, CCS provides housing and helps them find jobs and learn English, among other services. 

“We have so many jobs that Americans don’t want to do,” Batar said. “Refugees are proud to take those jobs, to work hard” in hotels and in production jobs. “If the refugees won’t take those jobs, who are going to fill those jobs?”

Perekh agreed. “They want to work. They don’t want to remain on welfare. They will take the jobs that many others don’t want to do, and they do them willingly and they’re happy to be contributing something to society. It would be a big miss to not give a helping hand to these folks.”

• Donate backpacks with school supplies, new clothing, household items, hygiene kits, blankets. For information, email jhealy@ccsutah.org or visit http://www.ccsutah.org/images/Misc/Donation_Drive_List_2016.pdf

• Become a foster parent. For information, email rfrecruiting@ccsutah.org or visit  http://www.ccsutah.org/programs/refugees/refugee-foster-care.

• Advocate. To invite a speaker to your event, visit utahrefugee.org.

• Volunteer with Catholic Community Services or the Utah Refugee Center. For information, visit www.ccsutah.org or utahrefugee.org.

 

Case management

Job placement

Health services

Interpretation

Transportation

Housing

Food assistance

And other services

Financial support for housing, food, clothing, and other necessities

Medical care case management

Education/ESL/tutoring

Job training and career/college counselling

Legal and immigration assistance

Help tracing family members

And other services

Source: Catholic Community Services of Utah