Roots of Refuge

Liberty University’s social work club hosted the executive director of the Charlottesville International Rescue Committee Feb. 15 for “Roots of Refuge,” an event held to educate students about the truth of refugees.

“I think the most important thing to take away from this (event) is the understanding of what a refugee really is,” Kuhr said.

Kuhr said that to be a classified as a refugee, one must have not only been displaced from their home, but also must have fled due to some type of persecution. According to the United Nations, there are an estimated 22 million refugees in the world today and about 60 million people who are displaced from their homes. She concluded that this means that one out of every 113 people are displaced out of their homes due to various reasons.

“I think one of the hardest things for refugees is trying to feel at home when you are so far away from home,” Kuhr said.

The IRC strives to make the refugees feel at home from the moment they arrive in America through providing apartments for refugees in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“We are at the airport ready for them, and we literally have cooked food ready for them at their apartment when they first arrive,” Kuhr said.

Although the IRC strives to make the refugees feel at home, they also push job integration right away. They help refugees get jobs, and as a result, 60 to 80 percent of families are generally self-sufficient within six months of arrival. The IRC offers language and culture classes for them that are required by the state.

However, Kuhr said that the IRC is having to close three offices mostly because of less refugees this year due to policies put in place by U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Since 1980, we have only had one other year where the number of refugees allowed by the president was so low,” Kuhr said.

Kuhr explained that at the beginning of each fiscal year, the president decides how many refugees will be allowed into the country. She said the last time the number was this low was when Ronald Reagan was in office.

Liberty University senior Rachel Jensen, who is the head of the Social Work Club’s refugee committee, organized the event because of her desire to see students become aware of the reality of the refugee crisis. Despite her efforts, Jensen said she was disappointed with the turn out of the event.

“The problem with college students is that a lot of people who said they were interested did not come because of homework,” Jensen said.

She became passionate about refugees when she interned at a refugee resettlement this past summer. She asked for the IRC to come because she wanted an organization that worked internationally but that was also local.

“People just do not realize so much about refugees … a lot of people are not educated on this,” Jensen said. “As a Christian university, we should be caring about the most vulnerable, and advocating for them.”

Jensen said she felt strongly that so many people have the wrong idea about refugees due to the current policies for refugees recently implemented by President Trump.

“Jesus was even a refugee at one point, when he was a baby he had to flee Bethlehem,” Jensen said.