| Refugees from Southeast Asia continue to enter the United States. These refugees are often uneducated, unskilled, and unable to speak English. An examination of the education and resettlement policies designed to meet the needs of refugees arriving from Southeast Asia reveals programs based on foreign policy goals rather than domestic resettlement needs. The transition of the refugees from refugee camps to their new communities in the United States is presented in narrative form. A total of twenty-one participants in this research include policymakers, refugee educators, and former refugees from Southeast Asia now residing in California. The methodology follows participatory research, in which each participant is a partner in discourse with an orientation toward reaching understanding. Critical hermeneutics is the philosophical foundation used for the interpretation and analysis of the data. Through discourse, appropriation of meaning, and reflection, the participants and researcher arrived at understandings of the meaning of policies affecting refugees in transition.; When refugees enter this country, if they are unable to find immediate employment, they enter the welfare system. Several programs are available to refugees on welfare to train them in job skills and vocational English as a Second Language. The training allows refugees to work at jobs that require minimal skills and pay about {dollar}5.00 an hour. Working these jobs, the refugees barely make enough money to support their families. This reality discourages refugees from leaving the welfare rolls. The government philosophy of self-sufficiency through quick employment disregards the needs of the unskilled, uneducated, and non-English-speaking refugees. These training programs are not meeting the needs of the refugees or furthering the goals of the government. Giving former Southeast Asian refugees a voice in decision making at the policy and program level is essential if programs are to be beneficial. Allow them to make decisions about training needs, program design, and funding allocation. I suggest that the money used to maintain refugees in the welfare system be allocated to refugee groups for their discretion on how best to train refugees for work and integrate them into mainstream society. Training refugees to be economically independent not only benefits individuals but the economy of the communities and states in which they reside. |
