RUDE AWAKENING: Refugee support agencies often create more hurdles for refugees by placing them away from Muslim communities
By Deanna Othman

Muslim communities nationwide have been enduring similar experiences, contributing whatever they can to ease the strenuous process of resettlement for refugees. In the greater Chicago area, Ahlam Jbara (Associate Director, Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago [CIOGC], and former Outreach and Interpretation Program Director, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights [ICIRR]), has led workshops to help people understand how trying this process can be.

By definition, refugees are those who flee from war and/or persecution in their native country. Whether threatened by civil war, an occupying force, or religious persecution, refugees must apply to leave their homeland through the UN. The UN designates certain areas and a specific number of people who can leave those areas as refugees, Jbara says. The Palestinian Iraqi poses an interesting situation, since they initially came to Iraq as refugees as well. “Some of these people have been in Iraq all of their lives, and their parents left Palestine in 1948,” she says. Because they are originally Palestinian, these Iraqis were put in refugee camps on the Iraq-Syria border. “Because two of the three camps are closing, with one already closed, those refugees have been granted status to come to the US and other countries,” Jbara adds.

The process begins in the native country, where people must justify why they have to leave Iraq. “Some Iraqis worked as translators for the US government, and applied to leave because they felt their lives were threatened because of this,” Jbara mentions. Once the application has been approved, it can take two months to one year for the refugees to reach their destination. “The central office in Washington, D.C. divides the incoming families among volags, or volunteer agencies, which are usually federally funded faith-based agencies who handle the resettlement,” Jbara says. Prominent volags include Catholic Charities and World Relief. Currently, there are no federally funded Muslim-run volags. These organizations prepare housing and other basic essentials. The agencies determine where they will settle each family, and the location is often dictated by the availability of affordable housing.

“Refugees automatically qualify for public aid, and for the first eight months they receive TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), which includes cash, medical aid and food stamps,” Jbara adds. The assistance is extended for families as long as they need it, but for individuals over 18 years of age, it expires.

Though Jbara mentions that unlike immigrants, refugees have their paperwork already set, and may begin working as soon as their Social Security cards arrive. This is crucial, since apartments are only paid for by relief agencies for three months. “The agencies should help refugees with learning English, job training and job placement. However, it is taking longer now for people to learn English, and it depends where they are coming from,” Jbara says. “Many people coming in lived in refugee camps, and are not able to immediately learn English. Many are illiterate in their own languages, and have little or no job skills.”

Another challenge is accessibility of English classes, as sometimes people are placed in suburbs where they are not near the Muslim community, or even people who are able to communicate with them. Without transportation to classes it becomes nearly impossible for many to even reach them. “If they cannot speak English, then they cannot necessarily get jobs, and without jobs, refugees are having a hard time paying rent, and have been getting eviction notices,” Jbara comments.

Many refugees suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and faced with a foreign country and culture, only exacerbates their delicate condition. Unfortunately, many experience a rude awakening and realize that though America is the land of opportunity, the road to brighter prospects is riddled with uncertainty and struggle.

This article originally appeared in “Islamic Horizons”