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Church World Service network resettles 4,772 refugees in FY2007
Chin Burmese refugees Robert Cun Thang, Sian Ngaih Niang, and their daughter Julia, who resettled to Grand Rapids, Michigan, in August.
Photo: Carol Fouke-Mpoyo
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Global humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) said today that it resettled 4,772 refugees in the United States between October 2006 and September 2007, representing nearly 10 percent of all the refugees who began new lives in the U.S. over the past year.
Church World Service is one of 10 agencies that work with the Department of State to assist refugees when they arrive in the United States. CWS resettles about 8,000 refugees and entrants in the United States each year, and also helps meet the needs of people in protracted refugee situations and refugees returning home.
The new arrivals--from Africa, Indochina, the Near East, the former Soviet Union, and Latin America--are resettling in cities across the U.S. with help from local resettlement agencies, local congregations, and other volunteers.
The largest number of refugees resettled by CWS came from Somalia, Burma and Iran, with CWS assisting 1,232 Somalians, 1,188 Burmese and 785 Iranians. The cities receiving the most refugees for resettlement under CWS auspices were Columbus, Ohio (822), Los Angeles (673), and Atlanta, Georgia (215). CWS also resettled 333 refugees from Burundi, 198 from Cuba, 159 from Ethiopia, 135 from Vietnam, 127 from Liberia, 119 from Russia, 114 from Ukraine, 99 from Sudan, and 58 from Iraq, with smaller numbers (from one to 55) of each of another 23 nationalities.
Some 35 million people around the world are uprooted from their homes and communities because of persecution and armed conflict.
Through its member denominations and communions, its own resettlement offices, and an extensive network of affiliate resettlement agencies throughout the country, the New York-based Church World Service assists new arrivals as they work toward self sufficiency.
The agency's community-based program helps newcomers make the transition to American life. Many refugee families resettled by CWS are co-sponsored by local congregations who act as welcoming communities and assist the new arrivals with material needs like job searches, renting and furnishing apartments, school enrollment, and accessing social services.
Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;
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