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As talk of welcoming refugees swirls across the country, data from The Refugee Processing Center shows there are people finding sanctuary in West Virginia.
Looking only at November 2023, the center's statistics show the Mountain State opened its arms to five refugees from Iraq, three from Nicaragua, and one from Congo. For the United States as a whole, in November, there were 1,884 refugees registered from Congo, 1,350 from Syria, 1,080 from Afghanistan, 606 from Burma and 247 from Guatemala.
A report by Stacker, using The Refugee Processing Center's data, says more than 3 million refugees have found new homes in the United States over the past 50 years or so.
We are, still, a nation where those fleeing violence, persecution and war can find some peace and start over.
And, as Mountain State residents will have noticed, the refugees are not coming from some of the countries making headlines in recent months. We've forgotten about what is happening in Congo as it struggles through decades of civil war. We don't talk much about Syria, or even Nicaragua and Guatemala. And Burma?
Violence and strife afflict nations all over the globe. Yet we, here in West Virginia and the United States, have the luxury of paying attention only to a conflict or two when the situation warrants. Perhaps that is precisely why those from all over the world seek refuge here.