Boise, Idaho Welcomes Refugees

Boise, Idaho (Oct. 25): Assistant Secretary Ellen R. Sauerbrey met with newly resettled refugees, city officials, and with representatives of Boise's resettlement offices: the Agency for New Americans, an affiliate of Episcopal Migration Ministries, World Relief, the International Rescue Committee, the Idaho Office for Refugees, and the English Language Center. In the last 12 months, Boise has welcomed approximately 700 refugees from some 20 different countries, including Iraq.

At a community garden, where refugees grow flowers and food, Assistant Secretary Sauerbrey participated in a press conference with Jan Reeves, Idaho State Coordinator, and Mr. Okhawa, an Iraqi refugee.

Assistant Secretary Sauerbrey speaks at press conference at the Community Gardens Oct. 17 in Boise on issues facing refugees, specifically Iraqis. Assistant Secretary Sauerbrey stands with Iraqi refugee Zeyad Abdel Okhawa. (photos courtesy of Christina Bruce-Bennion, ANA, Boise, Idaho)

During her visit, Mrs. Sauerbrey was especially pleased to reconnect with a former Department of State interpreter, Zeyed Abdel Okhawa, who she first met last March in Jordan, where he was waiting with his wife and two daughters to come to the U.S. Mr. Okhawa could not live in Iraq any longer due to threats against his life because of his association with the U.S. government. She also met Mr. Ayad Al Mansuri, an Iraqi who fled Saddam’s wrath and oppressive regime in 1991 and languished for six years in a refugee camp in Saudi Arabia. Now after only a few years in Boise, Mr. Al Mansuri mentors newly arriving Iraqi refugees, while running a large landscaping operation and raising a family.

Assistant Secretary Sauerbrey chats with former Iraqi refugee and now a new American Ayad Al Mansuri, who now owns his own landscaping company and treasures his newly adopted country. (photo courtesy of Tony Arrubarrena, Microenterprise Training and Assistance, Boise, Idaho)

Representatives from the major refugee resettlement agencies, the Agency for New Americans, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and World Relief, escorted Assistant Secretary Sauerbrey on a tour of their facilities, where she observed English language instruction and spoke with refugees. In addition, she visited Tony Arrubarrena, the Loan Coordinator of the Microentrerprise Training and Assistance Office (META), which helps refugees, immigrants, and other minorities start businesses. Most refugees are self-supporting within a few months.

Assistant Secretary Ellen R. Sauerbrey visited and spoke to students at Boise State University, the largest university in Idaho on refugee issues.