The U.S. State Department of State won't move forward with resettling refugees this year through a Charleston-based affiliate of Episcopal Migration Ministries, according to organizers who had been working to bring more refugees to West Virginia.
Members of the West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry had been working to bring more refugees - those fleeing violence or persecution in their native countries - to West Virginia, by establishing a Charleston-based affiliate of a national resettlement agency. They said last month that they planned to open an affiliate of Episcopal Migration Ministries, a national refugee resettlement agency, in Charleston on Aug. 1, and that they anticipated 85 refugees would arrive between October 2017 and September 2018.
Rev. Canon E. Mark Stevenson, director of Episcopal Migration Ministries, and Antigona Mehani, who was hired to direct the office, both later said that they in fact did not know whether West Virginia would receive refugees, and if so, how many would arrive. Mehani, who previously worked in refugee resettlement in Louisville, said at the time that she wanted to bring the economic growth refugees created in Louisville to West Virginia.
On Wednesday, Rabbi Victor Urecki, leader of Charleston's B'nai Jacob Synagogue and a member of the West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry, provided a statement from Episcopal Migration Ministries and the West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry.
The statement from Episcopal Migration Ministries said that on Monday, Episcopal Migration Ministries "learned that the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration will not move forward with resettling refugees in several sites in the coming year," including Charleston.
"We are saddened and disappointed by this directive," Stevenson said in the statement. "The Charleston community has been a joy to work with as they have developed the local relationships and logistics for welcoming families looking to rebuild their lives, and we are thankful for their passion and commitment."
He added, "EMM will continue to work with this network of professionals and volunteers in the coming days to find ways for them to continue to minister to refugees."
Organizers with the West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry said they were "saddened by the State Department's decision not to resettle refugees in our area next year, but the West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry is not closing our doors and we are not giving up. We are already beginning conversations on moving forward in new ways to fulfill our mission of 'striving to improve the lives of refugees.'
"We have worked for almost two years to organize a movement dedicated to refugee resettlement, welcome, and promoting interfaith respect, compassion and understanding," the statement continued. "Our network of supporters continues to grow, and fills us with confidence that West Virginians realize that supporting refugee resettlement is not only an American tradition; it is the right thing to do. We will remain strong and committed because 21 million refugees need us to be strong and committed."
Mehani said, in a statement, "While we will not be fortunate enough to serve refugees who are seeking shelter and freedom in Charleston, I am committed to stand up and fight for refugees by educating and advocating through proper channels and venues so that we can remove the stigma and fear that our society has shown towards the world's most vulnerable. So I ask each and every one of you to support WVIRM's mission and join us in 'striving to improve the lives of refugees.' We remain hopeful. We look forward with courage and strength, focused on our mission of improving the lives of refugees everywhere."
Episcopal Migration Ministries has about 30 offices nationwide. In the ministry's "resettlement communities," local organizers assist refugees with finding health care and work, translation and other services.
West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry had raised about $100,000 in pledges, donations and grants for the effort, according to Lynn Clarke, director of the board for the group.
Catholic Charities also helps place refugees in West Virginia. From Oct. 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017, a total of 0.03 percent of arrivals in the United States -- about 13 people -- were in West Virginia, according to the Refugee Processing Center.
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.