Background/Context: Since 1975, 3 million refugees have resettled in the United States. However, researchers and educators know little about the lives of refugee children and families entering the American educational system. Much of the extant research groups refugee children in families with other immigrant groups, failing to recognize the…

Around the world, we are seeing the highest number of displaced people to date, with an increasing trend since 2012. With the U.S. historically being leaders as a receiving country for refugee resettlement, research needs to focus on supporting refugee families with children with disabilities and the teachers who serve them. Literature in special…

From 2006 to 2008, refugee resettlement agencies brought 4018 refugees to Chicago, Illinois. Using the example of the challenges faced by 14 refugee students from Burundi in adjusting to the U.S. school system, the authors call the attention of schools to the distinction between educating English Language Learners (ELL) and Educating Culturally…

The article explores the ways "uneven geographical development" conditions and is conditioned by local placemaking practices. Guided by David Harvey's work along with Henri Lefebvre's three dimensions of spatial production--spatial practices, representations of space, and spaces of representation or the "spatial imaginary"--I…

This fact sheet is designed to give those working with newly arrived Cubans in the United States a brief refresher on Cuban geography and history, especially the history of Cuba's relations with the United States. It reviews events that have brought Cubans to the United States, and discusses the values newcomers are likely to have brought with…

Since 1975, the United States has accepted more than 110,000 Laotian highlanders as refugees, the vast majority of whom are Hmong. The Hmong in America trace their Chinese ancestry back thousands of years, but their recent history is rooted in Laos where Hmong families escaped from China in the mid-1800s. It is difficult to overstate the culture…

The Kurds are a distinct group of people who have inhabited the Middle East for as long as there have been written records. The Kurds are the second largest ethnic group in Iraq and Turkey and the third largest group in Iran. In 1975 and 1976, Kurdish refugees from Iraq were admitted to the United States after the failure of their attempt to…

Data from 1981, 1983, and 1991 to 1993 permit an analysis of the changes in stress, social resources, coping, mental health, employment, English proficiency, family reunification, consumer practices, and traditional and Canadian customs over the first decade of resettlement for Southeast Asian refugees in Canada. (SLD)

Argues that cultural minorities enjoy a basic right to recognition and rejects the idea that migrants implicitly renounce their cultural claims when they leave their countries of origin, enter the receiving society, or return. They can generally claim rights that recognize a multicultural transformation of receiving societies. (SLD)

The refugee experience--migrating against one's will--is a source of immense psychological stress. This paper therefore draws on empirical findings and theoretical discussions from the psychological, psychiatric, nursing, social work, sociological, and anthropological literature in order to identify the major stressors encountered in the…

This publication provides autobiographical essays by students originally from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, all of whom arrived in the United States as refugees between 1975 and 1982. Following an introduction is an initial essay, "Becoming a Refugee, Being a Refugee, Ceasing To Be a Refugee," by L. Nguyen-Hong-Nhiem. The student essays are…

Included in this report are descriptions of the background, lifestyle, and sociocultural patterns of Ethiopian refugees. Intended to provide information for American sponsors involved in Ethiopian refugee adjustment and resettlement in the United States, the report discusses Ethiopian and American differences in patterns of thinking and behavior…

In 1983, a survey was conducted by the Church World Service (CWS) Immigration and Refugee Program to determine how well refugees recently resettled through this organization were adjusting to this country and the extent of their sponsors' contribution to the resettlement effort. A total of 1,666 sponsors and 523 refugees returned the…

Provided in this report are descriptions of the sociocultural background of Afghan refugees and other information that may be of use to those involved in sponsoring Afghan refugees in the United States. The report discusses facets of Afghan life and culture, including religion, personal relationships, family structure, and male-female relations;…

The papers by B. Parekh and R. Baubock try to rebut arguments that immigrants have weaker claims to cultural liberty and preservation than other sorts of minorities. Many such claims, however, are not as vital as basic human rights, and may not pass tests of the good of the entire society. (SLD)