Sunday, July 13, 2008
News, In this Issue...

Brangelina’s gift to Atlanta

Every year, hundreds of refugees like Masooda Omar flee to Atlanta. Now, thanks to Brad and Angie, the group that assists them will get some help.

By Spencer A. Freeman

“My sister was beaten in the street for not covering all the way up,” says 30-year-old Masooda Omar. “I remember going out with shoes that showed the back of my feet. I felt someone slapping the back of my feet, and I turned around to see five men with guns shouting at me to cover up.”
 
Until five years ago, Masooda lived in Afghanistan, where she was terrorized by the Taliban and constantly in fear for her and her daughter’s lives. She was forced to leave her hometown of Kabul, and fled north to Mazar e Sharif to escape the violently fundamentalist Islamic group. But it wasn’t long before the Taliban traveled north to where Masooda had settled. That was when, tired of running, she decided to take a more drastic step.

Masooda’s family had moved to the United States seven years earlier with the help of the International Rescue Committee, a nonprofit humanitarian relief program with an office here in Atlanta. Though it was an intimidating move, Masooda decided it was time to do the same. The application process was long and laborious, but six months later Masooda and her 5-year-old daughter, Sunia, had resettled in Georgia and started a new life.

Recently, celebrity couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt donated $1 million to various charities, including $200,000 to the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Although the donation primarily goes toward rebuilding schools in Iraq that have been destroyed during the war there, “Brangelina”’s contribution has brought attention to a program that probably would have otherwise gone unnoticed by Atlantans.

“I really appreciate [Angelina] because of her humanitarian work. She gets a great deal of my respect for what she is doing,” says Masooda.

The Atlanta branch of the IRC has been helping displaced refugees since 1979. The program works in conjunction with the U.S. State Department to sponsor and provide special forms of visas to refugees when living in their home countries has become too dangerous.

In order to be resettled through the IRC program, applicants must be legitimately recognized as refugees, meaning they have to have fled their country as a result of war or persecution. After an applicant is recognized as a legitimate refugee, a case is built by the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). Applicants are interviewed multiple times by both UNHCR and State Department staff to make sure they meet the resettlement criteria.

“There is a rigorous screening process for everyone,” says Ellen Beattie, regional director of the Atlanta office of the IRC.

Resettlement cases are then presented to Customs and Immigration Services, and security checks are administered, followed by a scrupulous health screening. The IRC program must accept all cases beforehand, but according to Beattie, that’s almost never a problem. Once applicants are cleared to travel, they are required to take out a loan from the International Organization of Migration (IOM) to fund their resettlement, and in some cases, apply for an exit visa in order to leave their home countries.

Inside the burqa

“It took 45 days to get my visa, which is totally abnormal,” says Masooda, explaining that refugees are normally granted visas more quickly. “All in all, the entire process took five months from the day I applied.”

Once refugees come to the U.S., they undergo more health screenings and fill out more paperwork before being assigned to a caseworker and moved into a modestly furnished apartment. Over the next few days, refugees are signed up for English as a Second Language classes and shown around their new city by IRC volunteers. 

“When someone applies for the program, it usually means they are very determined and deserving of resettlement. They tend to be extremely resilient survivors with tremendous optimism and persistence,” says Beattie.

From there, refugees are assisted with job searches, social adjustments and computer literacy programs. There is a resettlement store located on the bottom level of the IRC office on Memorial Drive, where refugees shop for clothes and other accessories that have been donated by various organizations. Refugee children are enrolled in local schools and given study supplies. The IRC also provides after-school programs such as tutoring and activities for families with children.

“Usually school is interrupted for these kids, and they are suffering from academic gaps. Our goal is to get them back on track,” says Beattie. “We want them to succeed.”

The IRC is extremely successful in accomplishing that goal. Masooda’s daughter Sunia, who is now 10, not only speaks English but is becoming proficient in Spanish.

Before fleeing Afghanistan, Masooda herself was a student at Polytechnical Institute of Kabul. When the Taliban invaded her city, they stamped out most of the freedom that women had previously enjoyed. Masooda had to drop out of school and was forced to start wearing a full burqa—a covering that hides a woman’s hair, face and entire body.

“It was horrible. I almost fell so many times because I couldn’t see in front of me. I wasn’t used to that,” says Masooda, who has told Sunia all about her life in forced fundamentalism.

“My daughter understands why we left [Afghanistan]; I tell her stories because I want her to know what happened,” she says.

When asked her opinions about the current situation in Afghanistan, Masooda says that she feels good about the American military presence there because there is a dire need for soldiers to provide some semblance of security and order. But even when the strife ends, she says it will take time for Afghanistan to achieve stability. She believes that it will take more than one generation for Afghans to get used to living without war.

Welcome to Wal-Mart

Masooda’s first job in the states put her in constant contact with the public, though she had not had much experience with Americans. The culture shock was immediate and vivid.

“My first job when I came to America was at Wal-Mart. I hated it!” Masooda exclaims.

After Wal-Mart, she became an on-call translator for the IRC. A few years later, she was promoted to assistant case manager, and now she works full time as lead job developer.

“I help new refugees find jobs and adjust to working in America,” she says.

As a job developer, Masooda also helps refugees write resumes, fill out applications and prepare for interviews.

 Beattie says 95 percent of refugees are self-sufficient within six months of their relocation, but the third month is the most critical.

“Anywhere from six to 12 weeks, [refugees] are going to have the most contact with their caseworker and job developer, because they are getting settled into a new job and beginning to maintain salary,” she says.

     After a year in the U.S., refugees are eligible for a green card, and after five years they can apply for citizenship. In both endeavors, IRC staffers assist in completing applications. Because the IRC helps refugees file taxes, during tax season the IRC office resembles an accountant’s office, with refugees bringing in payroll checks, tax forms and lots of questions.

The logistics of resettling—among them, how to find work and fulfill duties like paying taxes—are difficult for anyone who leaves everything she knows to start over. But most refugees consider living in peace, with freedom to make choices for themselves, worth the hardships they face getting to the U.S. and fitting in.

“I don’t miss my country. I’ve always been an independent-minded person. I have that luxury here, whereas my culture limits independence [in Afghanistan],” says Masooda, who lives in Tucker, where she purchased a home two years ago.

 “I am very proud of myself for raising an incredible daughter and having a job I really like,” she says. “I have accomplished a lot more than I could imagine.”

Leaving her office, I notice two large dry-erase boards filled with names, dates and countries. More than 30 new refugee families are expected to arrive in Atlanta within the next month. SP