Afghan Refugee Resettlement
Photo: UNHCR
Afghan Refugee Resettlement in the U.S.
In the US there are at least five US Agencies involved in resettlement. These are Department Homeland Security; Department of State; Department of Health & Human Services, Department of Justice, and Department of Education. Further, the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) oversees resettlement at the state level.
For the Afghans, there is a special program called Operation Allies Welcome [for Vulnerable Afghans]. The first group of Afghans who arrived in the U.S. in September, are being placed through the Afghan Placement and Assistance (APA) program. For Operation Welcome, the United States government implemented a special coordination and assistance mechanism. The Department of Homeland Security coordinates the government resettlement, under aegis, Operation Allies Welcome [for vulnerable Afghans], including those who worked alongside the US in Afghanistan for the two decades. Homeland Security coordinates across the US government through Unified Coordination Group (UCG).
The policy developed for the Afghans under Operation Welcome provides the Afghans priority status for entry, health benefits, work permits. Within the State Department, the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration oversees the refugee and migration polices including in the US.
The U.S. Department of Justice oversees programs related inter alia to civil rights, access to justice. The U.S. Department of Education offers programs to orientation and access to education into the U.S. The Department of Health and Human services, U.S. Committee for Refugees, and Immigrants, provides information on health benefits/coverage in English, Dari, and Pashto.
The Health & Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) provide programs for people in need with critical resources to assist them in becoming integrated members of American society. For the Afghan assistance, ORR has developed fast tracked programs. The ORR collaborators and partners are:
Afghan Refugee Resettlement in Vermont
Manchester, Vermont will be a location for Afghan refugee resettlement.
The resettlement of refugees into Vermont is very similar to all refugee resettlement in the United States. State Department partners U.S. Committee for Refugees and immigrants (USCRI), Ethiopian Community Development Center (ECDC) and Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) are engaged with Vermont community partners like Grace Initiative Global to help coordinate refugee resettlement.
USCRI, which has served refugees and immigrants in Vermont since 1980, has an office in Colchester. ECDC partnered with the newly established Multi-Cultural Community Center in Brattleboro and the World Learning and School for International Training (SIT) to welcome and resettle up to 100 Afghan evacuees in southern Vermont through the APA program. Through this collaboration, World Learning is dedicating space on the Brattleboro campus where new arrivals will live and learn for up to 90 days while ECDC staff members work to secure permanent housing. EMM has a community partner, Grace Initiative Global, and will begin to resettle refugees throughout the APA program in Manchester and Dorset, Vermont.