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this is a surprise...
Report finds Manchester takes in bulk of state's refugees
By KATHRYN MARCHOCKI
Union Leader Staff
1 hour, 21 minutes ago
Manchester ? Manchester alone accepted more refugees in 2004 than did 23 states ? and did so with little apparent consideration given to whether enough suitable jobs, affordable housing, health and educational services exist to ensure their success in America, a city report on refugee resettlement revealed.
In addition, the state of New Hampshire took in refugees at a rate of 43.2 per 100,000 population in 2004, three times the national rate of 17.8 refugees per 100,000 population, the 25-page report made public yesterday said.
Manchester, which has about 8.5 percent of the state?s population, absorbed the lion?s share of refugees who came to New Hampshire after being forced out of their homelands across the globe because of religious, ethnic, racial and political persecution.
The city, which is the state?s largest with about 110,000 people, took in about 80 percent ? or 364 ? of the total 561 refugees who resettled in New Hampshire during the 2004 fiscal year, the last year for which federal refugee data is available, the city?s Refugee Resettlement Advisory Committee said in its report.
?No other community in the United States could be found that had resettled refugees at a higher rate than Manchester,? the committee wrote.
City Public Health Director Frederick A. Rusczek, who chaired the advisory committee, estimates 5,500 refugees ? or about 5 percent of the city?s population ? now live in Manchester. This does not include refugees who migrated here from other cities, native-born children of refugees or immigrants.
About 88 percent of the newcomers arriving here in 2004 came from Third World countries. Many were illiterate in their native languages and, with job skills often limited to manual labor and farming, their chances of not only getting jobs but getting ones that keep pace with the state?s high housing costs are slim, the report said.
?At the crux of the challenges that city departments and community agencies face with refugee resettlement in Manchester is the limited capacity of the community to provide the services necessary for a refugee family to thrive and grow in American society, rather than live in poverty with long-term government assistance,? the report said.
Of the 2,100 refugees resettled in New Hampshire between 2000 and 2004, about 1,680 came to Manchester, according to the Refugee Advisory Committee, formed in 2005 by then Mayor Robert A. Baines.
Concord, the second major resettlement site, accepted about 210 refugees during the same period, the report said.
Nashua, the state?s second-largest city, resettled no refugees from 2000-2004, according to the report.
Mayor Frank C. Guinta yesterday said he reviewed the report and expects to present it to aldermen next month with recommendations for action.
Stressing the city welcomes refugees and respects their desire to become productive citizens, Guinta said Manchester lacks resources to adequately meet all their health, education, housing and job needs and intends to ask state and federal governments for financial aid.
The mayor estimates the city conservatively spends about $3 million annually in direct costs to refugees, primarily in education, public health and welfare. This represents about 2 percent of the tax rate, he said.
Guinta disagrees with the New Hampshire Refugee Program?s claim that it has no control over how many refugees come into the state and where they are allowed to resettle. He said he hopes to meet with Gov. John Lynch to discuss challenges confronting Manchester and ask for its help in meeting them.
?I think the state certainly would benefit from a conversation ? a real, honest conversation ? about how $3 million . . . impacts the city,? the mayor explained.
?We?re certainly a welcoming city. However, to be so far ahead of the national average proves that this requires, not just a city response . . . but it demands the state recognize the challenges the city is going through,? he added.
With the average refugee earning $7.78 an hour, and many having lost jobs during recent waves of layoffs at area companies, employment looms as a critical issue in ensuring their success in a new land.
But Guinta said jobs exist in the state and he would like to ?partner? with the state, which has the resources to identify potential employers in other locations.
He singled out Nashua as one city that has not done its fair share in resettling refugees.
?We are asking the state and communities to fulfill their responsibility to help provide a better life for people who want nothing more than to be accepted and be successful,? Guinta said.
City schools taught more than 2,300 English-as-a-second-language students, who represented 76 different languages, at a cost of $2.7 million in fiscal year 2004, the report said.
But the federal government reimbursed the school district only $300,000 for the federally mandated program.
?This is a significant unfunded federal mandate,? Guinta said.
The mayor said he also plans to ask the state?s congressional delegation to increase federal funding to this program.
Report finds Manchester takes in bulk of state's refugees
By KATHRYN MARCHOCKI
Union Leader Staff
1 hour, 21 minutes ago
Manchester ? Manchester alone accepted more refugees in 2004 than did 23 states ? and did so with little apparent consideration given to whether enough suitable jobs, affordable housing, health and educational services exist to ensure their success in America, a city report on refugee resettlement revealed.
In addition, the state of New Hampshire took in refugees at a rate of 43.2 per 100,000 population in 2004, three times the national rate of 17.8 refugees per 100,000 population, the 25-page report made public yesterday said.
Manchester, which has about 8.5 percent of the state?s population, absorbed the lion?s share of refugees who came to New Hampshire after being forced out of their homelands across the globe because of religious, ethnic, racial and political persecution.
The city, which is the state?s largest with about 110,000 people, took in about 80 percent ? or 364 ? of the total 561 refugees who resettled in New Hampshire during the 2004 fiscal year, the last year for which federal refugee data is available, the city?s Refugee Resettlement Advisory Committee said in its report.
?No other community in the United States could be found that had resettled refugees at a higher rate than Manchester,? the committee wrote.
City Public Health Director Frederick A. Rusczek, who chaired the advisory committee, estimates 5,500 refugees ? or about 5 percent of the city?s population ? now live in Manchester. This does not include refugees who migrated here from other cities, native-born children of refugees or immigrants.
About 88 percent of the newcomers arriving here in 2004 came from Third World countries. Many were illiterate in their native languages and, with job skills often limited to manual labor and farming, their chances of not only getting jobs but getting ones that keep pace with the state?s high housing costs are slim, the report said.
?At the crux of the challenges that city departments and community agencies face with refugee resettlement in Manchester is the limited capacity of the community to provide the services necessary for a refugee family to thrive and grow in American society, rather than live in poverty with long-term government assistance,? the report said.
Of the 2,100 refugees resettled in New Hampshire between 2000 and 2004, about 1,680 came to Manchester, according to the Refugee Advisory Committee, formed in 2005 by then Mayor Robert A. Baines.
Concord, the second major resettlement site, accepted about 210 refugees during the same period, the report said.
Nashua, the state?s second-largest city, resettled no refugees from 2000-2004, according to the report.
Mayor Frank C. Guinta yesterday said he reviewed the report and expects to present it to aldermen next month with recommendations for action.
Stressing the city welcomes refugees and respects their desire to become productive citizens, Guinta said Manchester lacks resources to adequately meet all their health, education, housing and job needs and intends to ask state and federal governments for financial aid.
The mayor estimates the city conservatively spends about $3 million annually in direct costs to refugees, primarily in education, public health and welfare. This represents about 2 percent of the tax rate, he said.
Guinta disagrees with the New Hampshire Refugee Program?s claim that it has no control over how many refugees come into the state and where they are allowed to resettle. He said he hopes to meet with Gov. John Lynch to discuss challenges confronting Manchester and ask for its help in meeting them.
?I think the state certainly would benefit from a conversation ? a real, honest conversation ? about how $3 million . . . impacts the city,? the mayor explained.
?We?re certainly a welcoming city. However, to be so far ahead of the national average proves that this requires, not just a city response . . . but it demands the state recognize the challenges the city is going through,? he added.
With the average refugee earning $7.78 an hour, and many having lost jobs during recent waves of layoffs at area companies, employment looms as a critical issue in ensuring their success in a new land.
But Guinta said jobs exist in the state and he would like to ?partner? with the state, which has the resources to identify potential employers in other locations.
He singled out Nashua as one city that has not done its fair share in resettling refugees.
?We are asking the state and communities to fulfill their responsibility to help provide a better life for people who want nothing more than to be accepted and be successful,? Guinta said.
City schools taught more than 2,300 English-as-a-second-language students, who represented 76 different languages, at a cost of $2.7 million in fiscal year 2004, the report said.
But the federal government reimbursed the school district only $300,000 for the federally mandated program.
?This is a significant unfunded federal mandate,? Guinta said.
The mayor said he also plans to ask the state?s congressional delegation to increase federal funding to this program.
