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Julia Nguyen

Mentor: Martha Taylor

Senior Project

Topic: Refugees

Prior to starting my project, I wondered about issues around the world that have been

heard but never truly addressed. I knew that there was a refugee problem but I never knew the

extent or process of it. A refugee is a person who has to leave their country due to escaping war,

persecution, or due to a disaster.

My knowledge of the subject prior to research was very small. I was aware that there was

an issue from the news as well as small conversation from teachers but I did not know the

situations, the statistics, and even the way to become a refugee. What I knew was that my

grandmother as well as my father and his two younger brothers were refugees during the fall of

Saigon during the Vietnam war. Today, Vietnamese refugees are not as common in coming over

but the effect of the boom of escaping the war has affected the western side of the United States.

Through the help of the United States back then, a new generation of Vietnamese Americans

have had the opportunity to start anew for their family.

According to United Way Utah: Currently, 60,000 refugees from more than 20 countries

live in Utah and 5,00010,000 continue to need assistance of some kind. This information was

found to show the local level of those in need.

The number of refugees in need continue to rise, by 2014 there were over 14.4 million

refugees according to the UN Refugee Agency.

In a worldwide perspective, Embrace Refugees organization is a campaign that states that

there are almost 20 million refugees in the world currently, half of which are children - a survey
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that was conducted by the organization stated that only 59% of people from the United States

desire to help refugees. of the worlds refugees are from Syria, Afghanistan, as well as

Somalia. Worldwide, 0.7% of the refugee population was referred for resettlement in 2015, half

of which was actually resettled. In 2016, the United States had resettled 85,000 refugees- the US

being the top in resettling refugees. The other countries that accept refugees are Germany,

Scandinavia, Germany, and Australia.

According to Embrace Refugees, the two ways to become a refugee is to either be

interviewed by the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR) where they will

see if they are qualified or have prima facie status. Prima facie status is when a mass of people

are in need due to war or a catastrophe, it essentially allows many people to be screened rather

than an individual interview. The process takes around 18-24 months. When people are accepted,

they have no choice in location of resettlement. After the interview, the refugees must go through

background checks by the National Counterterrorism Center, the Department of Homeland

Security, and FBI/State Department. After several more checks, such as medical checks, they

will then continue to receive their resettlement assignment.

Organisations such as the UN Refugee Agency partner with other government and

international organisations to provide education for children. There are 16 million refugees under

the care of the UNHCR and 6 million of those refugees are under the age of 18.

In 2011, The Syrian Civil war had begun resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths. As

foreign powers intervened, the war became more dangerous. According to World Vision, the

reason why many Syrians are forced to flee is due to violence, inadequate health care, no clean

water, and children in dangerous situations. World vision states that 5 million of the Syrian

population are refugees, most of the refugees from Syria are still located in the Middle East.
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Some of the greatest needs for refugees are food, clothing, health care, shelter, and hygiene

products.

In wondering what an individual could do to help this issue, rescue.org was an

organisation found all over the world and was also located in Salt Lake City. They were hosting a

clothing drive in October 2016 asking for winter clothes. Clothing drives do not accept all

clothes, they require gently-used/new clothing such as coats, gloves, socks, etc. The International

Rescue Committee is one of many organisations that helps refugees, asylees, human trafficking

victims, torture survivors, and immigrants from all around. According to the IRC, the multiple

ways to contribute to helping refugees as well as other groups is to donate in multiple ways as

well as volunteer.

I conducted a survey in AMES where students and faculty responded to the questions:

#1:
How aware are you of the refugee problem around the world?
a. Aware, I have followed the news about it.
b. I know of it, but am not completely aware of it.
c. Dont know

#2:
Should we focus more on the current homeless situation in the United States or refugees?
(Open answers)

#3:
What would you most likely contribute to? Canned-food drives, clothing drives, money
donations.
(choose one of the three)

Thirty-three people had answered the survey. It was noted that because the amount of people

who responded was very small, the results are not as significant. In regards to #1: 9 people had

answered a., 23 people had answered b., and 1 person had answered c. In regards to #2 on the

survey: 9 people answered that they wished to focus on the homeless situation first, 15 had
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replied that they wished to focus on refugees, and 9 had replied with other (they did not know or

care). In regards to #3: 1 had replied with all, 1 had replied with none, 13 had replied with

canned food drive, 11 had replied with clothing drive, 7 had replied with money donations.

Bibliography

Facts and Figures about Refugees. UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency. (n.d.). Retrieved June,

2016, from unhcr.ie

How Can I Help Refugees? Uw.org. United Way of Salt Lake. Web. 25 Mar. 2017.

Guidelines on International Protection No. 11: Prima Facie Recognition of Refugee Status, 5
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June 2015. (2015, June 24). Page 2. UNHCR. Retrieved June, 2016, from unhcr.org

Refugees. UNHRC.gov. UNHRC. Web. 23 Mar. 2017

Syria refugee crisis: Facts you need to know. Worldvision.org. World Vision. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.