USA Government Hailed for Doubling Refugee Funding

Ekklesia – Refugee programme staff from the relief agency, Church World Service and their colleagues in local resettlement agencies across the United States, have hailed the US government’s recent announcement that it has doubled to US$1,800 the amount of the per capita grant to assist refugees resettling in the United States.

The funds help new arrivals to pay for such expenses as security deposits, initial rent payments, household furnishings, start-up pocket money and other basic necessities, along with local case management to ensure that each refugee gets a fair start in his or her new country.

“This is very welcome news,” declared CWS Immigration and Refugee Programme Director, Erol Kekic, upon receiving the announcement last Friday from Eric Schwartz, Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration in the US State Department.

Church World Service is one of 10 national voluntary agencies and one state agency entrusted by the US State Department to provide services to help newly arriving refugees move quickly toward becoming self-supporting members of their new communities.

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