REPORT ON BOSNIAN RESETTLEMENT IN UTICA MOSTLY GOOD
Clinton, N.Y. -- A new report says that Utica has done a good job welcoming and providing for Bosnian refugees.
The report, a summary of interviews with 100 Bosnian families resettled in this area, was issued by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center at Hamilton College. Researchers, Reed Coughlan and Judith Owens-Manley catalogued psychological, social and economic adaptations of the Bosnian refugees to this community and the strategies they have used for successful adjustment.
"Although it was anticipated that refugees might not feel accepted in the community, most people stated they felt welcomed in some way and did not experience discrimination here," said Judith Owens-Manley, a director of the study and research coordinator for the Resource Center for Human Services at the Levitt Center.
Utica, the site of resettlement for almost four thousand refugees fleeing war in Bosnia between 1993 and the present, has the fourth highest density of refugee numbers in the US, largely due to extensive resettlement programs here. Different from immigrants, the refugees to this area often have a college education. Many held middle class jobs in their home countries.
Among the significant findings:
- Many refugees [are] still struggling to bring family here in a race against time as immigration rules increasingly restrict who can be admitted to the United States
- Bosnian families in Utica have, for the most part, re-created family groups and even community, to some extent.
- Most refugees reported being somewhat satisfied with most of the services being provided.
- Most refugees are employed within four months, but the language barrier is significant in keeping wages and opportunities low.
- Adaptation is made more difficult by traumatic experience during the war.
For more about the study, see http://www.hamilton.edu/news/refugee/Adaptation.pdf or http://www.hamilton.edu/news/refugee/bosnian.html
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