Local

A worldwide humanitarian crisis

Dave Borowski | Catholic Herald

Patricia S. Maloof, program director of Migration and Refugee Services for Arlington Catholic Charities, details the work of MRS in helping refugees feel welcome in the United States.

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Fr. Robert J. Richter, a Global Fellow at Catholic Relief Services, speaks on the work of CRS to help ease the refugee crisis Nov. 5 at St. mark Church in Vienna.

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There’s a basic difference between an immigrant and a refugee
– choice.

Immigrants have time to plan their departure. Generally, they
can return to their home country when they want and they
often have family in their new country who can offer them
support.

Life is different for refugees. When they leave their home
it’s in haste, often with just a few hours of notice. Because
of the quickness of their departure, they often take only the
clothes on their backs and a few personal items.

Refugees are fleeing some sort of persecution, and they
usually have no say as to where they eventually will settle.
A return to their country is impossible unless there are
profound changes in their homeland. It’s a tough and
dangerous journey.

To be a refugee, you need to cross an international border
and fear persecution in one of five areas: race, nationality,
religion, political opinion or be a member of a particular
social group.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, nearly 60
million men, women and children have been displaced by war in
2014. It’s the highest number of refugees recorded since
record-keeping began.

The Peace and Justice Committee at St. Mark Church in Vienna
wanted to share the story of refugees with its parish. On
Nov. 5, it hosted a presentation by Father Robert J. Richter,
a Global Fellow at Catholic Relief Services, and a priest
in-residence at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Arlington,
and Patricia S. Maloof, program director of Migration and
Refugee Services for Arlington Catholic Charities.

Father Richter began the evening with a short talk on CRS and
its work with refugees. He said his job is to “bring the
people in the pews closer to the work of CRS.”

When asked what can be done at the individual level, prayer,
he said, is more important to the work of CRS than
contributions.

Father Richter also said that individual activism can be
helpful too. Go and visit your representative on Capitol
Hill, he said, and tell them of your concerns about the
refugee crisis.

The bulk of the presentation was given by Maloof, who
recently began work at Catholic Charities. She has a long
history of work with immigrants and refugees.

Maloof spoke on the process of refugee migration.

For the United States, the president consults with the State
Department to determine the number of refugees to be
accepted. For 2015, 4,000 refugees were allowed from
Europe/Central Asia, 13,000 from east Asia, 3,000 from Latin
America, 25,000 from Africa and 34,000 from the Near East and
South Asia.

According to Maloof, there are three parts to a refugee’s
migration path: pre-flight, flight and their arrival in the
United States. People in the pre-flight stage are facing
imprisonment, abuse, malnutrition and a loss of home and
livelihood. During their flight from their homeland, they
could face illness, robbery, assault, rape, beatings and
refugee camps. News reports of poor treatment and crimes
against refugees are almost a daily thing.

In the United States, there are nine public/private
partnership agencies that handle refugee resettlement. The
largest is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The agencies partner with the federal government and local
groups like MRS, which is the largest refugee resettlement
agency in Virginia. Since 1975, they have resettled about
23,000 refugees.

MRS serves all races, nationalities and religions.

Even after their arrival in the United States, life is not
easy for refugees. Maloof said there is isolation, language
barriers, loss of identity, low socioeconomic status and
general disappointment. But with help from MRS their
struggles are lessened. The agency provides case management,
help with food, clothing, housing, health screening and
orientation to life in the United States.

Maloof concluded her presentation with a list of prominent
refugees, including Albert Einstein, the Dalai Lama, Sen. Mel
Martinez of Florida and Andrew Grove, the founder and
chairman of Intel Corp.

The fear of immigrants is not uncommon in the United States.
Maloof said much of the fear is unfounded. She gave an
example of Lewiston, Maine, which began accepting refugee
resettlement in 2001.There were fears of increased crime and
poverty. In reality, Maloof said the crime rate decreased and
the per capita income increased. In 2007, Lewiston was named
an “All-American City” by the National Civic League.

People who attended the event found the presentation helpful
to see what CRS and MRS do to ease the transition of refugees
fleeing war and finding a new home.

Patricia McAdams from Washington came with a friend and said
she was better able to understand the refugee process.

Not everyone agreed with accepting refugees and immigrants in
general. One person said that immigrants come here and spread
disease.

Maloof was asked if the model that MRS uses to help refugees
is a good one. She said it works well.

“People are faring better here,” she said. “We are
encouraging them to get on their feet.”

Find out more

For information on Migration and Refugee Services go to
ccda.net/programs_mrs-refugee.php.

For information on Catholic Relief Services go to crs.org.

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