BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Buffalo is expected to welcome in refugees from Afghanistan, who fled the country due to the Taliban takeover earlier this month.
What will life be like for these refugees arriving? Denise Phillips-Beehag, Director of New American Integration at the International Institute of Buffalo, said refugees who arrive at the airport and don't have any family here will be met by a case manager. That case manager will then help the refugee move into a furnished apartment already secured by their organization and give them a basic orientation.
"Some of our clients are very familiar with western living," Phillips-Beehag told WBEN. "They have owned cars and understand car seats and seat belts and air conditioning and heat and gas stoves. We have others who have never experienced any of those things before. Depending on the situation, the case managers will do a brief safety orientation for the clients, show them around their home, explain things like what a smoke detector is."
That's just their first day. On day two, Phillips-Beehag said case managers return the next day to check in on the refugees and answer basic questions they may have. Then, local refugees will be scheduled for what's called an "intake".
"We explain what is going to happen with them over the next 90 days, which is the term of our contract we have with the federal government for resettlement," she said. "The federal government gives agencies like ours administrative money to assist in the resettlement of clients and what we call 'welcome money' which is spent on behalf of that client to do that initial setup."
The goal of all resettlement for adult refugees is to get immediate employment.
"Clients are taught even prior to arrival that to live here, you're going to have to work to get income to pay back the travel loan they've taken out to come here...and just to live," she said. "The cost of living is high. Housing is more expensive. They're either going to have to work or they are eligible to apply for public assistance, which, honestly, doesn't go far."
Some refugees include doctors and engineers while others do not have as high of an education. Those who do not have a higher education are recommended for the hospitality industry and manufacturing field. Phillips-Beehag said refugees who speak English fare better at finding quality work.
Refugees are also thrust into the education and health care system. Children will need to receive their appropriate vaccine to be enrolled into school while adults learn logistics like where school is and how their kids can get to school.
"It's a long process," she said. "All of our families - that really is the number one concern, even before their own needs- It's 'I want my child to get an education. Where are they going to go to school and when are they going to start?'."
Refugees have been partly credited to the increase in Buffalo's population for the first time in 70 years. The population increase means the city will be allocated more federal dollars for the next decade. Beyond the census, Phillips-Beehag said refugees add to Buffalo's diversity and small-business environment. She also said refugees are available to work and help companies who are struggling to hire employees.
"Incoming refugees are one of the solutions to a labor shortage," she said.
After five years, refugees can become citizens of the United States. Phillips-Beehag said 90% of refugees end up staying in Buffalo and those who leave are doing so mainly because they learned other families live in other parts of the United States.
"It is a long and lengthy process," Phillips-Beehag said. "People wait for years. Years. On average two years. Many of our clients are still waiting for their family members to come here. They are very grateful to come to the United States. There is a long vetting process they go through. When they come here, they very much see themselves as Americans and are very grateful and appreciative of living here and want to be productive and part of this tapestry of our country and our town."
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