Refugee Predictions for 2010

In 2010, I imagine that the world will take a closer look at refugees and the worlds in which they live. This closer look will take the form of reaching out to refugees and refugees reaching back. That is my hope, at least. I also understand that there will likely be an increase in the United States of people who do not want to see more refugees in their communities.

There are already a lot of resources available to learn more about refugees. There are non-profits dedicated to helping them that have been around since the early to mid-20th century. Refugees move and work among us in the United States, but it is very common to find American citizens that don't know what a refugee is or anything about the ones that live in the same town as they.

1.) Youth Projects: More projects such as the one initiated by students in Paris who became pen pals with Burundian refugees will expose the issue of refugees and resettlement in third countries to children. No longer will refugees be mainly a political topic of discussion in European countries. Children will learn more about the truth of refugees' lives, and, when they are older, they can help turn the tide of dislike many in the countries refugees are resettled in have of refugees.

2.) University Groups: Stateside, more university students will understand the social and political impacts of having refugees in our communities. More student groups will form which serve refugees and assist them in the process of becoming self-sufficient and living in their new communities.

3.) Refugee Ownership: Refugees will take a more active role in helping the world know about their lives in refugee camps and in the cities where they have been resettled. They will tell their stories themselves and work together to increase awareness of their pasts and futures.

4.) Refugee Blogs and News: More refugees will utilize the Internet to tell their stories. In this way, details of their daily lives can be read by the world. An example is the Kakuma News Reflector, which tells about the lives of refugees within the Kakuma Refugee Camp. Stories are written by refugees, and the site is updated regularly.

5.) Economic Competition: Even as the economy struggles to regain its footing, refugees are being admitted to the U.S. in much greater numbers than they were last year. This means more refugees in a country that is already hard hit with a lack of jobs. Higher-skilled jobs that Americans may have held have been eliminated, and lower skilled, possibly part-time jobs that they are forced to take are possibly being filled by refugees. Public benefits are also given to refugees as they learn the ropes of being self-sufficient in the U.S. As more families are forced to accept public assistance themselves, more people will become aware of this fact, and ignorance about refugees' benefits and how long they receive them may contribute to negative feelings against refugees in some communities.

(Please note that many refugees are very highly-trained and educated in their fields of work. They are often unable to practice their professions in the United States because they may not have escaped their countries with their educational credentials, which can be translated and equated to requirements for positions in the United States, and they may not yet know English well enough. It is also possible that they must be relicensed to do their old jobs in the U.S. because of different standards of practice set by professional associations and boards here.)

References:
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=44a531b84
http://www.acu.edu/campusoffices/studentorgs/interests/interest_details.html
http://thevoiceforum.org/taxonomy/term/6
http://www.theirc.org/program/project-strengthening-organizations-assisting-refugees-soar
http://kakuma.wordpress.com/about-kakuma-refugee-camp/