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NEWS
HIAS Helped Nearly 6,500 Refugees Migrate To U.S.A. In
2000
by Yated Ne'eman Staff
In 2000, HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, assisted
6,490 refugees with their migration to the United States.
The 120-year-old organization -- America's oldest
international migration and refugee resettlement agency --
helped facilitate the safe passage, humanitarian needs and
legal documentation for the refugees, most of whom came from
the Former Soviet Union (FSU). The HIAS estimate for 2001 is
5,000 refugees.
The breakdown of U.S. arrivals by area of origin for 2000 is
as follows: FSU, 5,523; Iran, 728; Bosnia, 205; Africa, 33;
and Kosovo, 1.
"Our work in refugee resettlement remains a badly needed
service for so many Jews and others," explains Leonard
Glickman, the organization's president and CEO. "Consider
that HIAS was founded at the close of the 19th century,
opened and closed the 20th century and now at the beginning
of the 21st century we find ourselves still rescuing and
resettling people fleeing persecution."
HIAS' activities have always mirrored world events, explains
Glickman. In the past decade alone, HIAS workers around the
world have helped refugees and immigrants from Afghanistan,
Bosnia, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Hungary, Iran, Morocco, Nigeria,
Poland, Romania, Sudan, Tunisia, Vietnam, FSU, and other
countries where persecution and the absence of liberty have
forced people to seek new homes in America and other
welcoming nations.
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