Refugees in Massachusetts Helped by Health Care, Education, Community Groups

Richard Chacón, director of the Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants, coordinates state policies and programs that help refugees and immigrants.

Massachusetts receives 1,200 to 1,500 refugees per year, of whom many have experienced trauma, have lived in refugee camps for several years, and have had no access to formal education or health care, says Chacón.

He spoke to EthnicNewz.org by phone on World Refugee Day, June 20, 2008. Following is the condensed and edited interview.

What countries do refugees in Massachusetts come from?

Most of our refugees come from Africa, Asia and, more recently, from the Middle East and Iraq.

Half of our refugees come from countries in Africa - the Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Burundi, some from Liberia.

We still continue to receive some refugees from the Soviet Union, though not as many as we did before, particularly groups called the Meskhetian Turks.

From Asia, we've seen an increase in Burmese refugees - most of them have been living in camps in Thailand and Malaysia - and Bhutanese refugees from Nepal.

We still receive some refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia, although the numbers of them have diminished significantly compared to 20 years ago.

We still continue to receive some refugees from parts of Europe and Latin America - such as Bosnia, Colombia and Guatemala - but the numbers of them are quite small now.

How has the refugee population in Massachusetts changed over the past 20 years?

Twenty years ago, most of our refugees were coming from what was then known as the Soviet Union. A significant number also was coming from Vietnam.

The refugees of 20 years ago were more likely to have a higher level of education and perhaps already had been working and had some level of professional degrees.

What we're seeing today are groups of refugees, particularly from Africa and Asia, who've been living in refugee camps for five to 20 years and who have not had access to conventional forms of education, health care or English-language training. Forget even job training.

How many refugees does Massachusetts receive every year? And how does Massachusetts figure among all the 50 states for receiving refugees?

We're quite active. We used to take in many more, particularly from the former Soviet Union 20 years ago. We are not as big now in terms of volume as some of the largest states in the country, particularly California and Texas, but relative to our size, we are quite active in refugee resettlement.

Massachusetts receives in any given year between 1,200 and 1,500 refugees.

Where in the state do these 1,200 to 1,500 refugees tend to be located?

We try to prioritize the resettlement of our refugees into communities where we know there are abundant services for them.

So a lot of our refugee resettlement has happened in Greater Boston, meaning Boston, Chelsea and Lynn. Lynn is a very active community for us right now for refugee resettlement.

But there's also been areas in Lowell, particularly for some of our Asian refugees - Cambodians and Hmong, for instance.

Worcester and the Springfield area have a lot of good resettlement programs.

What makes Massachusetts an attractive state to settle in for newly-arrived refugees?

What makes Massachusetts so strong and unique as a state for resettlement are the strengths of our health care systems, our educational opportunities, and the kinds of jobs and wages that refugees are able to find when they get here.

Our health care and education programs are especially strong.

Because Massachusetts has such great hospitals and health care system, it is considered one of the better places in the country - and I would even say in the world - for resettling refugees.

What kinds of challenges do refugees face once they arrive in Massachusetts or the country?

It poses significant challenges for refugee families to get adjusted to a level of self-sufficiency with English-language and skills-training education and even health care. That is also true across the country.

A lot of times they are illiterate even in their own languages.

What's the biggest challenge for the Office for Refugees and Immigrants?

The biggest challenge for us today is helping these groups who have been living in refugee camps for so long to get adjusted to living in the United States.

Helping them get adjusted means everything (in daily life in the U.S.). Having electricity in your own home. Having indoor plumbing. How to use a stove. How to go through a grocery store.

For people who have not been accustomed to those kinds of opportunities and options, coming to the United States for the first time can be a very daunting experience.

It's our job to help them try to feel as comfortable as quickly as they can.

What challenges come up regarding the health of refugees?

Given that a lot of our refugees have been through certain kinds of trauma or perhaps they haven't had access to consistent health care, they come with some real health needs, particularly mental and emotional health.

That's an area in which Massachusetts has a real strength in our health care system. That is, getting refugees access to quality mental and emotional health programs and health care.

By and large, we know what the health needs of refugees are before they arrive in the United States because they already have received some level of health screening and health assessments.

But again, there's a certain amount of additional stress and anxieties that come from trying to get adjusted to life here. We want to make sure that we have that kind of care ready for our refugees.

How are these mental or emotional health needs met?

We have strong partnerships with state agencies, community-based organizations, and with hospitals and health clinics across the state.

We work with other state agencies that provide a lot of health programs for our refugees. The state Department of Public Health is very active in refugee-health assessment and health care.

The Department of Transitional Assistance for the state is also very active.

We work with a very dynamic network of refugee service providers - organizations like Catholic Charities of Boston, Lutheran Community Services, Jewish Family Services in Springfield, and the International Rescue Committee in Boston.

In Boston, for example, the Boston Medical Center [hospital] has a wonderful refugee health center.

In Worcester, there's the Great Brook Valley Health Center, which is contracted to perform refugee-health assessment and provides many additional needed services, as well as the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester.

What other services does the Office for Refugees and Immigrants provide to refugees?

Even though we're a state agency, most of the money that we receive comes from the federal government for refugee resettlement.

We do receive some state appropriation for citizenship assistance programs, which are (administered through) community-based organizations across the state. The programs are for people applying for citizenship who need some help in civics, English, test and citizenship-interview preparation.

The program works - 96 percent of the people who sign up for and take our citizenship assistance programs through one of these community-based organizations go on to pass the citizenship exam.

What about educational or employment-training services for refugees?

We have a Refugee School Impact program. We fund programs that help get refugee children adjusted into schools.

We have a number of employment-training programs that we fund in cooperation with the [Massachusetts] Department of Transitional Assistance. For example, we help provide English classes on site where refugees work.

We have a Refugee Agricultural Program that helps refugees who might have had some agricultural experience in their native countries. We help find opportunities for them to work as farmers, such as at nurseries. We help them become more than just farmers; we give them the skills to become entrepreneurs.

We have programs that fund a development of refugees from ethnic support groups, like the Somali Development Center and the Russian Community Center.

There's about a dozen different, very active groups - called the mutual assistance associations - and they have formed a coalition here in Massachusetts

There's a whole other area that the Office for Refugees and Immigrants does and is statutorily empowered to do with respect to immigration policies for the state. We are the lead state agency that coordinates all of our policies that affect and serve immigrant communities.

What other vulnerable or persecuted groups of persons, who aren't in the legal category of refugee, might be eligible for refugee services?

People who happen to be already in the country who want to apply for asylum might be eligible for refugee-type benefits.

The difference between an asylee and a refugee is that a refugee is brought here from another country for resettlement.

An asylee is somebody who already is in the country for whatever reason, maybe as a student, maybe for work, perhaps to teach. The situation in the person's country has deteriorated so much that he or she fears going back for political or personal reasons.

We also have refugee-type protections and benefits for certain groups of people from Haiti and Cuba as well as for victims of trafficking.

We also have a special category - and this is an area that we're seeing growth in, particularly in Massachusetts - for refugee minors who came to the U.S. and maybe have lost parents or have lost touch with the parents. We often see this to be the case particularly for refugees from Africa as well as those from Latin America, with children who are smuggled over.

How much are refugee minors and trafficked persons in Massachusetts on the rise?

We've seen an increase. There's been an increase nationally in the number of refugee minors and victims of trafficking.

Massachusetts is actually considered to be a national model for the way that it assists and supports refugee minors. We have a great collaboration that my agency does with Lutheran Community Services, which is based in Worcester, and also with the [Massachusetts] Department of Social Services.

It's a great program that our partners in Washington recognize. As a result, they want to refer more cases here to Massachusetts.

How have the state's refugees been received by their respective communities where they live, work or learn?

I think they find that Massachusetts is a very welcoming and supportive place, especially as I've seen in communities in Springfield and Worcester. In Lynn I'm just amazed at how vibrant those communities are.

Especially in areas where there is somewhat of an already-existing immigrant population, I think that's where you tend to find the most receptive climate for our refugees.

Do you find any anti-immigrant backlash towards the refugees despite the welcoming environment that you describe?

I think there probably have been in some instances in years past. One anecdote that I have been told about was that there was a bit of a backlash against some Somalis in Holyoke some years ago.

I think what you hear from is a vocal minority of people who try to use immigrants and immigration as issues of fear and wedge issues.

What we try to do is to provide the right kind of cultural orientation both for that refugee family but also for the receiving community.

Some people would say we should help our own first - or only. How do you react to that?

Helping refugees doesn't take away from helping our own. There are people all over the world who suffer persecution for no reason other than that they have a certain religion or that they were born into a certain ethnic community.

We should recognize how fortunate we are to live in a country like the United States, with all of the abundances that we have here. With those abundances come the opportunity to share with others who may not necessarily be as blessed.

We're not taking away from any services or support that other U.S. citizens might have or need.

We are a leader in this world. As (such), we have a certain role to play in welcoming those who are less fortunate.

What's the history of the state's support for refugees?

Massachusetts has a long and very strong history of refugee resettlement, going back to Gov. Dukakis (in the 1970s and 1980s).

Gov. Dukakis was so emphatic on making Massachusetts one of the best states for resettlement in the country. He issued an executive order that first made Massachusetts a state for resettlement.

His executive order is what created the Office for Refugees, which was sort of the precursor of the agency that I now oversee.

Was his executive order rescinded by subsequent governors?

No, no. In fact, the executive order was actually, in some ways, expanded by Gov. Weld (in the 1990s) to include immigrant affairs for this agency. It expanded the duties and the agency's name from the "Office for Refugees" to "Office for Refugees and Immigrants."

How can people get involved in having an active role in welcoming refugees?

A number of community-based organizations across the state work with refugees and help receive them, provide them translation, teach them English, provide transportation, and help guide them through (a wide range of activities that are new to them, such as) sorting their mail and understanding how to get to the grocery store.

A whole variety of areas needs volunteers. Their help can be very valuable to new families who are getting used to living in this country.

To find out where those organizations are, people can go to our Web site.

What else should people know about refugees?

We are very blessed to have such a diverse and fascinating group of refugees from all around the world who resettle in Massachusetts.

We have great systems for health care and education. We have our challenges with finding affordable housing, maybe transportation, and trying to make ends meet in a place that can be as expensive as Massachusetts.

But look at it holistically for the refugee resettlement experience. Massachusetts is a wonderful and welcoming place.

World Refugee Day, June 20th, is a special day, but really the needs of refugees exist all year long. We welcome both people's support and their willingness to get involved in helping us become a more welcoming place for our refugees.

source: EthnicNewz.org

Copyright 2008 New England Ethnic News, EthnicNewz.org. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express permission of the source. Contact Newz for more information.

 

LEARN MORE ABOUT REFUGEES:

World Refugee Day 2008

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement

U.S. Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration

Unaccompanied Refugee Minors, U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement

VIDEO: High Commissioner António Guterres' Message

VIDEO: Invitation from Luol Deng, NBA (Chicago Bulls) player and former refugee

VIDEO: Message from Angelina Jolie, UNHCR goodwill ambassador

REFUGEES IN MASSACHUSETTS:

Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants

Benefits Available to Refugees Resettled (and Asylees) in Massachusetts

Refugee Health in Massachusetts

Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program (URMP) in Massachusetts

Refugee and Immigrant Safety and Empowerment (RISE)

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