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With resettlement, refugees see "the other side of hope"
U.S.-bound refugees in a CWS Cultural Orientation class in Nairobi, Kenya.
Photo: Carol Fouke-Mpoyo
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Nairobi, Kenya -- A visit to the Church World Service refugee resettlement processing program in Nairobi – known as the JVA, or Joint Voluntary Agency – reveals how much work it takes to move a refugee toward resettlement in the United States.
The work demands conscientious attention to detail by each of the JVA's 150 Kenyan, American, and other expatriate staff, who recognize that refugees' futures depend on their careful handling of case files, medical records, interviews, pre-departure orientation to U.S. culture, and more.
They know that the files they work with every day represent people who have endured enormous hardship and who long for release from the struggle to survive in refugee camps or urban slums.
"I have seen the horrible side of being a refugee," said Joanne Mugambi. She joined JVA after several years of social service to urban refugees who are suffering economic and sexual exploitation, malnourished, ill, and broke. "It's different at JVA," she said. "Here, refugees see the other side of hope."
The JVA is administered by Church World Service under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. State Department. One of several Overseas Processing Entities (OPEs) around the world, it is responsible for compiling case files for all refugees in Eastern and Southern Africa being considered for U.S. resettlement.
Last year, JVA-Nairobi departed 13,677 refugees for resettlement in the United States. CWS also administers the Accra, Ghana-based OPE, whose sphere of operation is Western and Central Africa and which departed 2,192 refugees last year.
Staff at all OPEs apply multiple quality assurance measures to ensure that U.S. resettlement is offered to refugees who are eligible and in genuine need.
By the time refugees board the plane for the United States, they and their reams of paperwork have been checked, rechecked, verified, reverified, and then checked again. "The things that we can control, we will," said Dave Johnson, who heads JVA-Nairobi.
That care begins in the Correspondence Section, which is the first to receive referrals, mostly from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and applications from already resettled refugees for family members to join them. "We verify that all the information we need has been submitted, and check whether the case is already on file or previously was denied. Applicants' addresses are verified to ensure they get notice of their interviews and medical exams," said Mary Kinuthia, the Correspondence Section's Assistant Supervisor.
Often that's easier said than done, especially for an applicant living in a town, not a camp where interview and medical exam schedules are posted. "Sometimes the U.S. relative gives more than one address for the applicant or gives the wrong postal code," she said. "This actually is one of the more common reasons cases get delayed."
Other measures are used to verify the identity of the persons who come for the interviews, where further double-checking occurs.
JVA staff interview refugee candidates three times, either in Nairobi or on scheduled "circuit rides" to refugee camps across Eastern and Southern Africa. Each interview – prescreening, form filling, and casework – is conducted by a different staff member, with U.S. citizens responsible for the first and third interviews. Each candidate's name, date of birth, extensive family tree, and refugee experience are reconfirmed.
"We tell candidates, ‘You have to tell the truth. If you aren't sure about something – for example, a parent's birth date – say so and we'll work out an estimate.' Interviewers use different skills to cross-check information, especially with people who have not been to school and don't keep track of these things," said Lydia Chola, a field team assistant.
 Jud Shearer, a field team leader, Pictured with colleagues Liza Kamwithi and John Manuwo. Photo: Carol Fouke-Mpoyo
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Inconsistencies and other concerns are flagged for the U.S. government interviewer to check. "If someone says something that doesn't make sense, we'll give them a chance to explain themselves, but we do not ‘correct' the information," said Jud Shearer, a field team leader.
Rather, both the inconsistency and the explanation will be recorded in the case notes. Incidentally, to frustrate any temptation to alter a case note, there is not even one bottle of correction fluid anywhere at the JVA.
Shearer affirmed that all JVA staff "are here because we want to help refugees," but not by glossing over inconsistencies or embellishing a weak case. "Our job is to prepare accurate files so that the U.S. government can make a good decision on each case," he said.
"Interviewing requires a lot of patience," Chola affirmed. "It's not just consistency of detail. The file has to come together and make sense. We must get it right. These are their departure records."
U.S. government officials take the completed case files to their interviews with refugees. They decide whether or not to approve refugees for U.S. resettlement, then return all case files to the JVA.
Virginia Manyeki and her staff then help move refugees toward departure, tracking the necessary medical exams, security clearances, cultural orientation, allocations to one of 10 U.S. resettlement agencies (among them, Church World Service), and assurances from the local affiliate that will provide resettlement services to that individual or family.
Last but not least is "packeting," that is, assembling the documents that all departing refugees take with them. Documents are sorted into a series of large brown envelopes, one for boarding passes, another for U.S. immigration officials at the port of entry, a third with medical records, and a fourth with each person's employment authorization document.
"We prepare a list of travel-ready people," Manyeki said, forwarding it with the packets to the International Organization for Migration, which books refugees' flights and sees them off at the airport.
Refugees leaving for the United States travel with all good wishes from the JVA staff. As Lydia Chola put it, "It's so satisfying to know we make a difference in each family's life. Refugees have come through a lot of difficulties. I feel honored to help them start a new life, get hope for the future, and begin to heal."
Story and photos by Carol Fouke-Mpoyo
Related story: Cultural orientation at the CWS Joint Voluntary Agency in Nairobi
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