Greetings!
 Greetings from ORAM! Thank you for your ongoing support of our work. A special thanks to the LGBTI and allied faith-based community, which has given our pilot Refugee Resettlement program a terrific boost! LGBTI Buddhists, Christians, Jews, and even the irreverent Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are all enthusiastically supporting ORAM's clients -- both abroad and as they resettle in San Francisco. We are excited to be presenting on this work as part of a workshop on resettling LGBTI refugees at the upcoming National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Creating Change conference in Baltimore from January 25-29. Stay tuned for more information! If you are already familiar with the lifesaving work we do, please consider making a gift online. We also appreciate your donation of time when you volunteer. Stay in touch! Neil Grungras, Esq.Founder and Executive Director, ORAM |
| ORAM Investigating LGBTI Refugees in Mexico | |
 In November and December, ORAM is reaching out to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) refugees and organizations that serve migrants in Mexico. Thousands of refugees flee to Mexico to escape persecution in their home countries -- not only in Central America and the Caribbean, but as far away as Africa.
ORAM is researching challenges LGBTI refugees face in Mexico, where 76.4% of LGBTI people report experiencing violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. In some instances, LGBTI refugees held at immigration detention centers have been be placed in solitary confinement to "protect" them.
Keep an eye out for our report on our findings, to be released in August 2012. We will offer recommendations to government agencies, refugee service providers and LGBTI advocates on how to better protect LGBTI refugees, as well as inform the international community about protecting this vulnerable population. |
| Security Measures Delay U.S.-Bound Refugees | |
 ORAM clients abroad who are waiting to be resettled in the U.S. have a new hurdle to overcome: Changes to the U.S. security system now require that refugees pass four security clearances. The change is in response to the arrest of two Iraqi refugees in Kentucky last May. Read more about the story here.
The increased security measures have caused long delays for vulnerable ORAM clients nervously awaiting the last stages of security checks in Kenya and Turkey before being approved to begin a new life in the U.S. Luckily, our clients have the support of their Guardian Groups and are receiving messages of support and care during this period of uncertainty. |
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