This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
During the next few months, hundreds of refugees from across the world will arrive in Utah and know they are finally home.
As many as 400 are expected by the end of September from Iraq, Myanmar (Burma) and Bhutan, a crush of new arrivals who will flood a resettlement system some say is already painfully strained. They will come at a time when the state is taking a hard look at why some refugees end up hungry and nearly homeless after arriving in the land of opportunity.
Some Utahns, familiar with challenges refugees face, question whether the tidal wave should continue, whether the state should first help those who are already here. Others say Utah and the U.S. have the ability and obligation to improve lives and must keep accepting refugees, though services are unquestionably flawed.
"If there isn't adequate housing, why do we keep bringing them in?" asked Terry Feveryear, Salt Lake City Housing Authority director of housing operations. "But then you have to look at the plight of the refugees, a lot of them are in these awful camps for generations before they can get here." The dilemma has been raised on the governor's advisory committee examining refugee services, said Michael Gallegos, director of the Salt Lake County Division of Community Resources and Development. "The question has come up: Can we turn the faucet down a little bit so we can get prepared and deal with issues already in front of us?" he said. "We don't have the capacity to serve the refugees we have right now."
Upon arrival, refugees are eligible for food stamps, cash assistance programs, Medicaid and other services, some of which are available for years, some for as little as eight months.
But after receiving initial housing assistance, refugee families join thousands of other Utahns hoping to obtain a federal subsidy that can significantly discount their rent. Many in this new wave of refugees will join more than 4,000 people already on the Salt Lake City Housing Authority waiting list.
They will have to wait at least two years to get a housing discount voucher.
Refugees receive no preferential treatment.
Two organizations, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Salt Lake City and Catholic Community Services (CCS) of Utah shepherd the refugees through their first months with the aid of federal and private dollars.
But the system seems to largely rely on volunteers to mentor the refugees as the years pass.
A documentary about Sudanese refugees left Merrie Campbell-Lee in tears several years ago, prompting her to join dozens if not hundreds of Utah volunteers who "adopt" the struggling families.
"As a larger community we're extremely unaware of the huge needs of any refugee population," she said. "We just think there are service providers who will take care of them."
She sees wide gaps in the system from the expiration date on some government assistance to the never-ending paperwork that must be completed in English, a language some refugees neither speak nor read.
Despite it all, she believes the refugee flow to Utah should not be shut off.
"If I were in a refugee camp starving and not wanting to die, I'd sure hope people on the other side were willing to care and do something on my behalf and be inconvenienced for me," Campbell-Lee said. "Life isn't just about Americans and the American dream - it's about everyone."
Osman Hassan shares her open-door attitude. In Utah, refugees know they are safe, the president of the Somali Bantu Association of Utah said.
"It's very hard for them to get jobs, but still they can go to D.I. [Deseret Industries] to work for . . . minimum wage," said Hassan, who arrived as a refugee four years ago. "But in the refugee camps, there's no jobs, nothing."
Aden Betar, CCS director of refugee resettlement and a former refugee, said Utah's strong community support and bounty of volunteers create a welcoming environment, though more resources are always needed.
"The U.S. is the leading country in the world in accepting refugees," he says. "We could do even more. If we don't find resettlement possibilities, they will be warehoused in refugee camps forever."
The IRC hopes to bring on temporary staff to help with the refugee influx expected in the coming months. The timing is the issue, not the number of refugees, said Patrick Poulin, who directs the agency in Utah.
"Our country has a tremendous history of being a land where refugees and immigrants have been able to rebuild their lives," he says. "The challenge is to have the arrivals come on a steady basis rather than bunch them up at the end of the year. We are working to fix that part of the system."
The state's new refugee services office has provided hope for many refugee advocates who believe solutions to the system's problems are possible.
"That's my message: It is absolutely fixable," said Gerald Brown, the office's director.
One goal is to provide better case management to help analyze refugees' needs, refer them to services and monitor progress.
Refugees often feel helpless and alone when faced with a stack of critical documents linking them to food, medical care and other services.
''We've had people say, 'It was better in the camps,' '' Brown said.