wfn.org | Grassroots coalition restores support for refugee assistance

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2000-193

Grassroots coalition restores support for refugee assistance

by James Solheim

     (ENS) Faced with the prospect that budget battles between Congress and 
the Clinton Administration would have a disastrous effect on refugee 
assistance, churches launched a grassroots campaign at the local level that 
yielded a surprising outcome.

     "The church-based resettlement agencies, including Episcopal Migration 
Ministries (EMM), carried out strategic local advocacy in the districts of 
members of Congress whose leadership roles were potentially important to the 
outcome of the funding process for refugee assistance," said Richard Parkins, 
executive director of EMM.

     Citing the recent success of a church-based coalition in convincing 
Congress to appropriate funds for international debt relief, Parkins said, 
"The result has been a victory for refugees--an appropriation level of $700 
million, $42 million more than the Administration requested. That supports a 
potential refugee admissions level of 100,000, or 20,000 more than proposed 
for Fiscal Year 2001. And it restores $14 million in aid for African 
refugees," he added. "Grassroots advocacy with strong church involvement was 
the key to success--one of the best efforts that I have seen. It is also 
further evidence of how we can depend on churches at the local level."

     Merrill Smith, a lawyer who is Washington representative for Lutheran 
and Immigration Services, agreed in the power of focused grassroots efforts. 
Clearly disappointed by the original funding, he took the situation as "a 
personal affront and challenge." But he didn't really find any encouragement 
until there were subtle hints that the figures might not be absolute.

     Drawing on his own background in grassroots advocacy for the last few 
years, he concluded that a local presence is crucial, stirring up concern and 
action by taking the issue to local churches and coalitions. He is convinced 
that "there are no other intervening factors" that justify the final results 
of the funding.

     "Democracy can work--but only if you work at it," he said in an 
interview. "Democracy doesn't work by itself. We know that people have power 
that can be mobilized. No one can afford to ignore constituent voices, 
although some members of Congress are less own on certain issues," he 
concluded. 

     John Fredriksson, associate executive director of the U.S. Committee for 
Refugees had warned about the potential disaster looming in refugee 
assistance, especially in Africa. "So far this year about 1.5 million 
Africans have fled their homes in search of safety--and that is in addition 
to the 12 million who have already been uprooted," he said.

     Calling the original proposals in Congress "grossly inadequate," 
Fredriksson said that "refugees worldwide would suffer malnutrition, women 
will die lacking medical attention, children will be denied basic education, 
and refugee camps will be inadequately funded and shelters not built. 

     "The new funding by Congress now remedies that situation," Parkins 
added.

--James Solheim is director of the Office of News and Information for the 
Episcopal Church.