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According
to the 1951 UN
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees,
a refugee is someone who has left
his or her country because of a well-founded fear of persecution
for reasons of race, religion, nationality, social group
or political opinion.
Refugees undergo a rigorous screening process before receiving
approval for resettlement in the U.S. First, refugees must
prove to the satisfaction of US authorities that they do,
in fact, meet the definition of a refugee as set forth by
the UN. Once that has been established, each refugee must
undergo a background check and a medical examination. The
final step to approval is sponsorship. No refugee may be
admitted to the US without the support of an agency such
as IRIS – Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services to guide him/her through the
often difficult first months of resettlement.
Human Rights Watch
Refugee Project
www.hrw.org
UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees)
The UN Refugee Agency
www.unhcr.org
Episcopal Migration Ministries
www.episcopalchurch.org/emm/
Church World Service — Refugees
www.churchworldservice.org
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office
of Refugee Resettlement
www.acf.hhs.gov
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