Refugee assistance program closing

Demand has dropped for resettlements here

One of Pittsburgh’s refugee assistance programs is ending its services because of the dwindling number of refugees being resettled in the United States.

The Sharpsburg-based Northern Area Multi Service Center, or NAMS, will close its Community Assistance and Refugee Resettlement program in January. The program has been operating for seven years. Other NAMS community services will continue to operate.

“After many successful years as a provider of refugee resettlement, case management and employment services, the ... program will begin the process of transitioning its responsibilities to other

regional partner agencies,” a Sept. 28 NAMS letter to partner agencies read.

At its peak two years ago, NAMS resettled 269 refugees. This past fiscal year, which ended in September, it resettled 69.

“Honestly, it came down to it was no longer sustainable based on reduced numbers of arrivals over the course of the last few years,” said Kurt Meier, chief operating officer of NAMS. “Between the realized reduction of arrivals, on top of projects for the upcoming year, we made the decision to end the program.”

The two remaining refugee resettlement agencies in Pittsburgh are Jewish Family and Community Services — or JFCS, based in Squirrel Hill — and the Acculturation for Justice, Access and Peace Outreach — or AJAPO, based in the Hill District.

NAMS will complete its last two refugee resettlement cases by November, and the organization is transferring 22 employment program cases to JFCS.

For the past decade, the U.S. Department of State refugee admissions figures have hovered between 70,000 and 85,000 each year, with the exception of the 2016 peak of 110,000. This year, the Trump administration admitted 45,000.

In a September announcement, the administration said it planned to cap admissions at 30,000 next year, the lowest ever in the U.S. refugee program’s history.

The number of refugees resettled in Allegheny County has declined as a result, according to figures from the Pennsylvania Refugee Resettlement Program.

For this fiscal year, which ran from October 2017 through September, 202 refugees were resettled in the county — down from 448 in 2016-17 and 641 in 2015-16.

That’s well below what resettlement agencies in Allegheny County estimated for the year, Mr. Meier said.

NAMS had expected to resettle 175 refugees, JFCS expected 148 and AJAPO expected 145.

In recent years, the majority of refugees resettled in Allegheny County have come from Bhutan, where the government employed ethnic-cleansing policies, as well as warn-torn Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

NAMS laid off eight employees, two of whom were able to transfer to other area refugee programs.

The other two refugee resettlement agencies will absorb clients from the NAMS program closure.

“I think this is an opportunity for us to strengthen our services on the ground,” said AJAPO executive director Yinka Aganga-Williams about the slowdown in refugee arrivals.

AJAPO resettled roughly 70 refugees this year, and like JFCS, which resettled 71, also helps with immigration services, employment and cultural orientation.

The United Nations estimates 65 million refugees are displaced worldwide.