Thread: U.N. hard at work:Florida prepares for Iraqi refugee influx

MIAMI — Many Iraqi refugees are about to make Florida their new home.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/n ... 971499.ece

Iraqis displaced by the U.S.-led war are among new groups of refugees who will increasingly be resettled in communities throughout Florida and the country, a United Nations official said Wednesday.

The U.N. has referred more than 42,000 Iraqis for resettlement in the United States. Of those, 15,000 have already arrived — many of them religious minorities or single mothers whose husbands were killed, said Larry Yungk, senior resettlement officer with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

Yungk spoke to more than 200 case workers, educators and social service providers for refugees during a conference at Florida International University.

Iraqis are a growing group of refugees, he said, noting that just two years ago only 300 Iraqis were resettled anywhere in the world. About 2 million Iraqis are now considered displaced outside their country and an equal number inside. Many have sought refuge in neighboring countries, such as Jordan and Syria.

The focus of the conference was to discuss ways to address refugees' trauma and mental health needs beyond a job and housing. Florida resettles 25,000 to 28,000 refugees a year – three times more than any other state. The majority are placed in South Florida, while Tampa Bay is the second largest area for resettlement.

The conference was sponsored by the Florida Department of Children and Families Refugee Services and Clearwater-based Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services, which has social service programs in 32 counties and does refugee resettlement.

Resettled refugees in the Tampa Bay area come from countries that include Cuba, Bosnia, Sudan, Somalia, Burma, Colombia, Venezuela and Liberia.

Yungk warned the audience what to expect about the Iraqi refugees: Surveys found that 20 percent of them have had a family member kidnapped and between 40 percent and 50 percent have seen someone killed.

"There is a huge amount of trauma," Yungk said.

They are more highly educated than other resettled refugees.

"But that should not lessen the amount of help they are going to need, or the patience, upon their arrival.''

Yungk said to expect more refugees from Burma and war-torn Congo, where an estimated 400,000 women have been raped in the past few years

Organizers noted that resettlement has gone beyond driving refugees from the airport to an apartment.

"It's not just about jobs or housing, which is very important, and food," said Michael Bernstein, president of Gulf Coast. "It's also about resilience and recovery and healing from wounds that many, many thousands (experienced), have been through torture, genocide."

While refugees are very resilient, that shouldn't be taken for granted, said Dr. Richard Mollica, director of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma.

While not all refugees need a diagnosis or are pathological, Mollica said, service providers do need to recognize and deal with the humiliation and psychological scarring some experience and the deep-seated need for justice.

"You can't ignore that someone killed your three children," he said.

But patients do learn how to live a productive life without letting their anger and grief consume them, he said.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha .... this is not a funny laugh .. this is an OH My Lord what has Bush and the UN done to us

WOW! Another SLAP in the face for Florida citizens........

Where in the WORLD is all this money coming from to support these groups of people? And what jobs would they work. Why send jobs overseas when you can bring the labor here,RIGHT!

I moved from Miami to Pompano Beach and five years later, I left Florida and gave up on it. I now reside in GA, a state with some of the strictest laws regarding ILLEGAL ALIENS. I may not have a beach, but I sure don't have to sit around listening to Spanish everywhere while hispanics talk behind your back. Now, it's Iraqi language..good luck, FLA!

Extra extra, read all about it! Islamafla submits for city charter!

OMG....They are importing them from everywhere and they keep giving us the ones that need our social services....what are they going to do when those are broke?

I went to a Mexican restrauant today that I have been going to for 10 years, the owner is American and speaks as good of english as I do....but seems his new workers don't anymore.

My daughter and I went into the bar as thats where we have alway eaten, they had a TV with a spanish station on, we were the only two people in there, I asked the waitress to turn the TV down as I can't understand a word of it and that would drive me nuts, she gave me a dirty look and turned it down, the owner who I have known for years walked in and turned it up.....my daugher and I got up walked out, I will never go in there again.

I am so sick of there pushy ways and now it is starting here, but they will not get one more cent of my money.

Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS

OMG....They are importing them from everywhere and they keep giving us the ones that need our social services....what are they going to do when those are broke?

I went to a Mexican restrauant today that I have been going to for 10 years, the owner is American and speaks as good of english as I do....but seems his new workers don't anymore.

My daughter and I went into the bar as thats where we have alway eaten, they had a TV with a spanish station on, we were the only two people in there, I asked the waitress to turn the TV down as I can't understand a word of it and that would drive me nuts, she gave me a dirty look and turned it down, the owner who I have known for years walked in and turned it up.....my daugher and I got up walked out, I will never go in there again.

I am so sick of there pushy ways and now it is starting here, but they will not get one more cent of my money.

WOW...and this happened in Idaho? I thought it was the last state to resist this crap. There is truly no where to run anymore. If you get time, PM me as my dad lives there now and I want to be sure to tell him not to go to that establishment anymore.