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Number Of Refugees Below Expectations
Arizona Capitol Reports Staff//January 9, 2004//[read_meter]
The number of refugees who resettled in Arizona fell far below expectations for a second year in a row.
The declining trend started after the Sept. 11 attacks, but the nation’s stalled refugee resettlement program is gaining steam and could boost the number resettled in Arizona next year, said Charles Shipman, the state’s coordinator of refugee resettlement.
“There is reason to be hopeful,” Mr. Shipman told about 100 refugee resettlement workers during a quarterly meeting at the state Capitol on Dec. 16.
The state received 1,205 refugees during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, less than half of the 2,500 expected, Mr. Shipman said. The largest number, 160, came from Bosnia, followed by Somalia, 148, and Afghanistan, 138. —
