Refugees mustn't be held hostage by government

You couldn't have a more conscientious public servant than Palmer DePaulis. He steers clear of turf battles. And today, that virtue is much needed. DePaulis was mayor of Salt Lake City from 1987-92. He was known for his bridge-building and deep concern for the less fortunate of our city. DePaulis has distinguished himself in other public service jobs as chief of staff in the Attorney General's Office, a member of the Tax Commission and head of the Department of Community and Culture. It is a sign of the importance of the refugee issue that Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and Mayor Peter Corroon gave DePaulis the task of coordinating the Refugee Working Group.

DePaulis understands his mission, "but for us bringing many of these refugees here, they would be exterminated. I feel compelled to do this. If we don't get this refugee problem right, it will come back to haunt us."

Under DePaulis' direction, the working group has been working diligently to produce recommendations to Huntsman and Corroon. The working group includes state officials from a number of departments; local, city and county government agency directors; and a wide spectrum of community and faith-based organizations, refugee service providers and, importantly, leaders of refugee ethnic associations and a number of refugees themselves. The working group has conducted its activities in a very public and transparent way and has considered nearly 200 specific recommendations relating to access, specific services, culture sensitivity and respect, interagency issues, accountability, language barriers, employment, housing and self-sufficiency issues.

In my last column I wrote about this from a very personal perspective, highlighting a particular family's problems and the heartening efforts of people in our community to meet those needs. But this example is only emblematic of a very significant problem.

Twenty percent of Utah's population growth is foreign born. Eleven percent of the foreign born are refugees. Historically through the 1990s, refugees were primarily Eastern Europeans who were somewhat familiar with Western culture and tradition. As the working group recommendation points out, refugees who have resettled in Utah since 2000 are much more diversified with smaller populations, coming primarily from Africa, the Middle East and south Asia. "These refugees are from cultures very different from that of the United States; have typically spent many years in refugee camps before arriving in the United States; and are often illiterate in their own languages," not to mention having little or no ability to speak English.