c. 2008 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON _ At this week’s National Migration Conference, participants hit on a list of familiar issues: federal raids, deportation and child-care, while Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles said comprehensive immigration reform must be a major issue in the November elections.
But amid the discussion of undocumented workers and economic development, another question loomed: how to handle the tide of refugees coming from Iraq.
Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, an estimated 2.3 million Iraqis have fled the country, most seeking refuge in neighboring Syria, Jordan and Turkey. But a small fraction _ less than 2,000 in 2007 _ are allowed into the United States each year, where they often fall under the care of church-run refugee services.
At the conference, sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and national Catholic aid organizations, experts and volunteers weighed in on the costs and challenges of dealing with America’s new arrivals.
Sitting on the front steps of the Capitol on Wednesday (July 30), amid a steady stream of camera-toting tourists, John Binatta said the military surge may have helped spark a tenuous peace, but a surge of a different sort is making his life much more difficult in the Archdiocese of Detroit.
“We have a lot of people coming to Detroit who are very educated, and it’s not easy to get a job in their field,” said Binatta, who emigrated to the United States from Iraq in 1993 and now directs the archdiocese’s department of refugee services. “They come with high expectations.“
Roughly 1,200 Iraqis have arrived in the Detroit metro area so far this year _ all in a state where unemployment hit 8.5 percent in June. Last year, the area took in 586 refugees, and in 2006, just 19. Binatta’s agency, which had two staffers and as secretary in 2006, now employs seven people with three more set to join soon.
Still, with one of the largest populations of Arab-Americans in the United States, Michigan is better equipped than most places to deal with the incoming Iraqis. For Catholic aid workers unfamiliar with Iraqi culture, the refugees pose unique challenges.
At a Thursday panel discussion devoted to Iraqi and Bhutanese refugees, Binatta and Anne-Marie McGranaghan, an associate resettlement officer for the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, sounded off on the situation at home and the Middle East.
“Don’t put Iraqis in a small room. They don’t like that,” Binatta said. “Some of them have had bad experiences being questioned in Iraq and Syria.”
A native of Springfield, Mass., wondered what to with an Iraqi Christian who was transplanted to his city, hundreds of miles away from the nearest Chaldean Catholic Church. Another aid worker expressed frustration with a refugee who, while thankful for her help, blamed America for the circumstances that led him there.
Binatta sought to allay those concerns, emphasizing discipline and compassion in handling the newcomers.
“In Iraq, we never had fun. I was not funny before,” said Binatta, to laughter from his audience. “If you don’t try to have some fun with them, I think you’re not helping them because we need to change their mentality.”
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On Wednesday, participants lobbied on Capitol Hill for increased funding for refugee service, among a long list other concerns. The message echoed the one sent last week by Pope Benedict XVI himself, after a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in which the pontiff urged Catholics worldwide to welcome Iraqi refugees.
“We get a lot of reportage on the surge and the effect of the surge and when are we gonna pull out, but in terms of the displaced and the million or 2 million who are outside (Iraq), that’s just not getting the play it should,” said Johnny Young, executive director of the USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services.
“You can easily say, `Well, we’re going to bring in X number of refugees,’ but if the money’s not there, you’re doing them a disservice.”
KRE/JM END MURPHY
