A Look At How San Diego Resettles Refugees As Syrian Crisis Continues

Our top story a midday edition officials from the European Union our meeting today to discuss a plan to distribute tens of thousands of Syrian refugees across Europe. It is not clear at with resistance from Eastern European nations and Germany ordering new border restrictions. There is an estimated 4 million refugees from the Syrian civil war. And recent months hundreds of thousands have attempted to resettle in Europe. Last week it was announced the US announced double take and 10,000 refugees next year. A significant number of those refugees will be coming here. San Diego settles about 2700 refugees annually. Joining me as Doctor Robert Mosier. Thank you for coming in. Thank you for having me. As someone who works with refugee families and communities, what has been your reaction to the images we have seen of these Syrian refugees struggling to make the journey into Europe? It's heartbreaking and tragic. Unfortunately is happening not just their but in Southeast Asia. Many places in the world we've had large numbers of Central American children landing on our border. The world is filled with tragedy and heartbreak and people move from that and we're seeing it now. Is there anything about this particular crisis that surprises you? There's been so much resistance to the refugees arriving on the shores of countries like Greece. Well, there are has always been a choice people have to make to help her to hinder and to show has -- hospitality or hostility. I think the sheer volume and the immediacy of it happening is creating fears and people when you see about what is happening with Isis and the atrocities etc. Ever since 2001 the willingness of countries to admit refugees now has a big security question where it did not have that before. Now Catholic charities is one of four organizations in San Diego that helps refugees resettle. What are some of the challenges that all refugees face when they are starting a new life your? Well, starting a new life. You have to give up everything that you've add, your country, relatives, your job, whatever lifestyle you had in go to an unknown. Those who don't speak English or those who have lost family, the trauma especially for this particular group of people drowning of people being rejected. So learning to speak English, get a job, adjusting to the cost of living, having the children and family members and what is for their future which is now in our country and not theirs and things like that. You have to qualify for refugee status. How do you go about doing that? What you have to prove? You have to have a well-founded fear of persecution in order to qualify for resettlement in the United States. The United Nations has is standard in the -- in the United States has our own legal standard. Refugees are people seeking that status present themselves to the UN. There presented to the United States and a screening is done to make sure they meet the criteria and it's about being persecuted on the basis of ethnicity, religion, nationality. What countries have refugees here? Just this past year currently we are settling people from 29 different countries. The largest are from a rock, and the large population that lives here. Then there's Afghanistan. Burma, Haiti, Cuba, Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia. I always say from A-Z. From Afghanistan to Sawyer. Have you worked to help resettle refugees from Syria? In our agency just a handful. There has only been 42 so far this year out of the 1293 that came into the United States. That is usually a typical pattern. There are few people, the pioneers to come in for whatever reason and the number one reason, the first group is always the ones that are most phone or mobile. The United Nations presents them in the United States excepts them before there is a flow or natural program enacted by the president. I speaking with Doctor Robert Moser. Use with Catholic charities of San Diego and we're talking about the resettlement of refugees here in San Diego and the expected resettlement of Syrian refugees when they come to this country. What types of services, what types of County services, state and federal services are available to help them get a foothold in their new home? All the refugees that are admitted to the United States come through the State Department. Our agency and are three colleagues receive federal funding to assist down. Additionally some cash assistance in order for them to be able to buy food. Were responsible for housing, and rolling their children in school, medical screening, orienting them to life in America and helping them provide their -- prepare the job skills. Depending on the family composition and other factors they may be eligible for certain programs. If there a family with children, there are likely to find themselves in the Cal work system and they will be eligible for all the services that a low income family that is here in the United States would be eligible for. The objective is always to assist the person to make that transition from their former home to their new home and to succeed by being self-sufficient and being able to assimilate into the country. Was been your experience about the way San Diegans respond to refugees? Overall, very positive. The generosity, the carrying capacity, the community at large sees this is our way in the United States, to do something locally that's what's happening abroad. There are always those that may resist that but typically we know we are doing a job if no one knows what we're doing. We keep it under the radar in terms of the people are successful, people are making a new life for them, they are not causing a problem, there's not issues, and so by providing good services and a positive outcome, we keep the doors open for new arrivals. We started with Vietnamese in 1975 and were continuing year with the Syrians. We have a long history with these. Since 1975, so it's 40 years. You alluded earlier that there's a specific kind of reluctance to accept these refugees because of the fears that there may be potential terrorists in their ranks. What you think about those concerns? You always have to be prepared. Like the Boy Scouts, beep prepared. With do a tremendous job of screening and doing background checks. You don't just show up one place and get on an airplane and come here. There's a vetting process. And so the government does everything it can do to identify those who were not a risk and clearly, when you were seeing the millions of people that are displaced and the conditions the families are experience, it is impossible that there are that many terrorists and most of the people who flee are people just like you and I were just trying to live our lives and raise our families. Those are the individuals that we help. What is Catholic charities. Doing to prepare to receive these new refugees? I know you do this all the time but is there anything special? Whenever we get a new group we reach out to the local ethnic community in this case it would be a very small Syrian community but nonetheless, business people, faith centers, we would reach out to the schools, to let them know if and when people are coming a was school districts would be impacted so that we can help them prepare for serving those children. Is not a lot of new things but it's repeating the process we do for all groups. I a thank you very much. I've been speaking with Doctor Robert Mosier. Thank you for your time. Thank you.