When people from other countries come to the United States as refugees they are presented to a world where nothing makes sense. Most do not speak English and almost all have no means of financial support, other than what they are receiving from their agency for refugee services. The definition of a refugee is a person who is fleeing from his or her country due to persecution on an account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Yes, this is quite the transition as one can imagine. Through the Refugee Act of 1980, refugees come by themselves or with their whole family, but most come from rural parts of the world that have never known the meaning of industrialization (Singer et al, 2006). This means never having the privileges of having a car, a TV, and anything else us Americans take for granted.
Most refugees are offered immediate services from the time they come over until their resettlement period is over, which is usually 6 months to a year. Services included ESL classes, job search assistance, mental and physical health services, and other programs that allow for better assimilation into the United States. After that time period refugees are expected to hold a job and start providing for their family. What exactly does this mean? Well most agencies do not have the resources that can provide for a family for more than what is avaible. They have to assist the family as much as possible with the limited resources and within a time frame.The only problem here is that 6 months to a year seems like it is too short. Some people do not adjust as well to difficult situations compared to others, which means assimilation and language barriers might be harder for some to overcome. Other factors that are not considered when given this resettlement period are the mental health and state of the client. Persecution and exile may lead one to depression and a feeling of insignificance, thus making it that much harder for refugees to transition. If you think about it, most of us take decades or even a lifetime before we feel “secure” our in life, imagine what these folks are going through.
Yes, there are a lack of funds and limited resources, but it is better to have a high quality services than stretched out resources that lead to negative outcomes. And by outcomes this means refugees can no longer survive on their own and have to rely once again on the agency. Some may just altogether head back to their country due to the high stress levels. There is much resistance to pouring all or most of an agency’s resources into one case, but the reality is that if the quality of service is poor than it will be two steps forward and one step backwards for both the agency and the client. It’s kind of like the saying “If you do it right the first time, than you won’t have to go back and fix anything. Children are the ones who suffer the most when their family gets lost in the system. Imagine that you are a nine year old Burmese child who has fled Burma due to your family’s religious beliefs. How would you behave in school? Can you imagine how much stress this is for a child? “Who are these other children and adults?” they may ask themselves. Stress is not the only behavior that comes out of this for children. Some refugee children are reserved and quite while others are lethargic or aggressive (Szente et al, 2006). It is not unusual for a refugee child to have hoarding behaviors either. Teachers have observed refugee students collecting as much food as possible while at lunch (Szente et al, 2006). The belief was that because the child did not know when her next meal was. She was either collecting food for another time or for another family member. Most teachers did not know how to handle or approach a refugee child due to lack of knowledge or experience, which makes the situation that much more frustrating.
Unfortunately, we are not worry about refugees enough. We have issues of our own. There is racism, discrimination, health disparities, homelessness, and so much more. It is sad to see so many refugees get put on the back burner due to lack of resources because of other internal problems. The sad truth is that refugees communities are not well represented, and most American are not even aware of the needs and welfare of refugees.
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