Public Policy Dialogue: "Reforming the US Refugee Program"
ISED invites you to join a public policy dialgoue on Reforming the US Refugee Program. As many of you know, the National Security Council is reviewing the program and will recommend changes based on layers of research and the opinions and experiences of stakeholders. ISED program staff have developed a paper with recommendations based on our more than 315 days in the field over the last 18 months. Join the dialgoue by reading the paper. Go to Publications - Public Policy Dialogue and read the document (or follow the link) then post your comments and your own recommendations. The Executive Summary is first, so be sure to scroll down to read the whole paper - 6 pages only. Tell folks what you think!
http://www.ised.us/sites/default/files/09-12-18%20Reforming%20the%20US%20Refugee%20Program_0.pdf
- Peggy Gilbert's blog
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Comments
IOM Travel Loan issue
Thank you for raising this issue. Our recommendations were focused on the domestic side of the program, but your point is excellent and I urge you to let the Department of State, Bureau for Refugee Programs hear your concerns. We will also see that your comment is distributed to them.
IOM Travel Loans
I agreed with all of the reccomendations, however, I was a bit dis-heartened that the IOM travel loan policy seems to not have been considered. At its core, the policy of having refugees be financially liable for their airplane ticket to the U.S. is flawed. It is comparable to sending refugees an invoice for the food they were served in camp. To expect refugees to begin repaying IOM debt within a short amount of time creates needless stress and is unrealistic. To negatively impact credit scores of refugees who fall behind on their payments or fail to quickly learn how to fill out a 'change of address form' at the post-office is a direct contradiction to the mission of resettlement. The underlying legality of considering and reporting IOM travel loans as "consumer debt" should be investigated - as "consumers" of this particular loan product have no choice but to sign on. Unless one considers staying in camp a viable choice.
To be fair, current policy does not begin to report any information on client debt to credit bureaus until after one year, and does not send any bills to clients until they have been in country for 6 months. My experience has been that this is not enough to label the system as fair or justified. We have seen refugees be denied mortgages, business loans, and other important building blocks for financial stability becuase of negative information on their credit reports from IOM loans.