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‘They humiliate us’

(Published Oct. 26, 2008)

        Aleaa, a 31-year-old doctor from Iraq, urged her family to leave their home country after she was nearly killed last year. But months into her new life as a refugee resettled in Concord, Aleaa considered going back to Iraq. She even began packing her bags.

        She had come to the United State full of hope and gratitude. But as the weeks went by, those feelings were replaced with anger.

        Aleaa, who asked that her last name not be used because she fears for the safety of friends still in Iraq, says she and her family were mistreated and, at times, neglected since arriving here. She points the finger at Lutheran Social Services, the agency charged with helping them start their lives in Concord. She's not alone.

        Twenty-six Iraqi refugees have been settled in the city in the last year. Of the nine families or individual cases, at least five have expressed frustration with the agency. They paint a picture of, at best, a breakdown in communication, and, at worst, a lack of compassion.

        But Lutheran staff and some other refugee advocates say the agency is providing adequate support with the limited resources it has from the federal government. They say the newest refugees come with too-high expectations about what life will be like in the United States.

        In Iraq, the refugees lived middle-class lives. They owned homes and cars and had professions. The life they are offered in Concord includes sparsely furnished apartments, minimum-wage jobs and food stamps.

        “For some people who have already accomplished so many things in their own country, it’s a blow to realize that they have to start over again in that way,” said Amy Marchildon, Lutheran’s director of international programs. . . .

        In the last year, 192 people have been resettled in Concord, including people from Bhutan and throughout Africa. That's the largest number in 10 years.

        It is difficult to compare what the Lutheran staff says with what the angered refugees say. The two groups offer starkly different perspectives on the resettlement process. What's clear is that there is a breakdown in the system, either in communication, services or both.

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William DeShazer/Concord Monitor