Educate Yourself

We present the information below with the reminder that reducing people to numbers, data and trends is fraught with difficulties and problems. Every data point is a person with more than one story. 
We also display various international and national organizations mindful that many of these perpetuate existing and increasingly violent structures, but recognizing that no conversation on the forced global movements of people is complete without them.

Introductory

Data

Interactive

News

Major International Organizations

US Policies on Refugees

Take a look at this overview of US refugee law and policies for an introduction to the legal aspect of this current refugee crisis. It is important to understand all aspects of this issue as well as the great variety of issues refugees and asylum-seekers face.

The Refugee Processing and Screening System

The refugee processing and screening system to enter the United States is extremely complex. The average time from the initial UNHCR referral to arrival as a refugee in the United States is about 18-24 months. More information can be found in the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) Refugee Admission page. 

Voluntary Agency

VOLAG, also seen as Volag or VolAg, stands for Voluntary Agency, referring to the group of  nine U.S. private agencies and one state agency, all of which have established cooperative agreements with the U.S. State Department to facilitate the reception and relocation of refugees coming into the U.S. These agencies’ funding comes from the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) as well as fundraising by the agencies themselves. These funds go toward providing sponsorship, initial housing, food and clothing, orientation, and counseling for incoming refugees.

List of VOLAGs: