Clarkston Reaffirms Welcoming Policies for Refugees

Clarkston, GA. — On Wednesday, October 16th, the City of Clarkston approved a resolution in support of refugee resettlement and issued a call to end the violence against Kurdish Syrians.

The resolution comes on the heels of an announcement from the Trump Administration indicating the intent to set the new refugee admissions rate at 18,000 for 2020 — a historic low for the program.

“The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has determined that there are almost 26 million refugees worldwide, over half of whom are under the age of 18,” said Jim Neal, the Chairperson for the Coalition of Refugee Service Agencies (CRSA). “Refugee resettlement is a lifeline for less than one percent of the world’s refugee population. The United States has historically been a leader in providing safe haven to the world’s most vulnerable including torture survivors, people with severe medical conditions, LGBTIQ individuals, orphaned children, and women at risk of gender-based violence.”

. The City of Clarkston, known as the most ethnically diverse square mile in America, and the “Ellis Island” of the South, has welcomed newcomers for decades from more than 40 nations, speaking 60+ languages.

“Refugees are an asset to our community. They bring their culture, education, experience and…