OBSERVATIONS ON THE RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM The previous sections of this paper represent the voluntary refugee resettlement agencies' collective view on the refugee admissions needs for FY92. While we are confident that all the refugees admitted to the U.S. during the next fiscal year will be successfully resettled, it would be naive to assume that the financial and programmatic burdens of such a massive program do not put strain on the system. As mentioned earlier, a rapidly increasing percentage of the total resettlement caseload is being resettled as immigrants and parolees, not as refugees. The agencies remain deeply committed to these populations and will continue to provide a full range of services to help these people. Nevertheless, absent any federal, funding for these cases, these services place added strain on agency staff, resources, and time. As the U.S. admissions program has grown in size and complexity, the agencies' work has also expanded. Providing adequate and relevant service delivery for each of the varied ethnic and national groups of refugees has required a much wider range of expertise at both the national and local levels. The system for the allocation, sponsorship, and socio-economic adjustment of refugees has grown more sophisticated. Increasingly, the agencies are being asked to provide more services for more people and to do it faster. While these services and time pressures are accepted and recognized as being necessary, they are an indication of how agency resources are being stretched in these times of economic and budgetary recession and a relatively level federal per capita grant. In this context, we wish to express our appreciation for the sense of partnership that exists between all of the public and private sector entities active in the U.S. refugee admissions and resettlement program. Together, we can be proud of our past accomplishments on behalf of refugees in need, and view with confidence our ability to continue this vital humanitarian program. The Committee on Migration and Refugee Affairs of InterAction On behalf of: American Council for Nationalities Service Armenian Assembly of America Church World Service: Immigration and Refugee Program Episcopal Migration Ministries Ethiopian Community Development Council Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society Indochina Resource Action Center International Catholic Migration Commission International Rescue Committee Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service Migration and Refugee Services: United States Catholic Conference Refugees International Tolstoy Foundation World Relief of the National Association of Evangelicals + The FY92 recommendations do not include the recommended need for additional fully-funded numbers to make-up any FY91 shortfalls in admissions, particularly from the Soviet Union, Africa, and Cuba. * Recent projections of FY91 ODP arrivals are: Amerasians 16,874, Regular 1,271, Re-ed 17,350. Total projected FY91 ODP arrivals: 35,495. • Figure based on FY91 Presidential Determination. This does not attempt to incorporate projected shortfalls of the Soviet, African, or Cuban programs, or the more recent projections for ODP. |