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May 12, 2016

Will Kenya Shutter the World’s Largest Refugee Camp and Displace Thousands?

Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp, is home to more than 344,000 refugees. If it were a city, it would be Kenya’s third largest. On Wednesday, the Kenyan Interior Ministry announced plans to close the camp by November. The announcement has raised significant concerns from local and international refugee protection organizations.

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May 10, 2016

Step 1: Flee Anti-Semitism. Step 2: Get Famous. Step 3: Change the World.

Before she was the face of AT&T and the founder of Can’t Do Nothing, a non-profit dedicated to getting people engaged with the Syrian refugee crisis, Milana Vayntrub was a refugee herself. She explains why she can’t do nothing, and you shouldn’t either.

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May 6, 2016

Update From Ecuador: “People Here Have Not Lost Their Warmth and Hope”

“A disaster of this scale really takes a toll, not only on the victims but on the responders. It’s not easy to be in the field and see this kind of sadness,” said Sabrina Lustgarten, director of HIAS Ecuador. “Our goal is to support those doing this very difficult emergency work, to prevent burnout and enable them to continue to respond effectively.”

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May 5, 2016

Jewish Week: Yom HaShoah, Anne Frank and Refugee Security Checks

"As we commemorate Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, we suddenly transition from Passover, the ancient holiday which commemorates the refugee experience, to honoring the memory of the six million Jews who perished because they were not able to flee," writes Mark Hetfield in The Jewish Week.

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May 4, 2016

To Remember and Protect: Yom Ha’Shoah and the Global Refugee Crisis

Keeping the story of Passover alive as we move into the day on which we are told “never to forget” our people’s more recent encounter with unconscionable evil means ensuring that what happened to the Jewish people does not happen to others. We can do this by becoming part of the American Jewish movement in support of refugees.

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May 2, 2016

How to Make Sure Sexual Violence Prevention Includes Older Refugees

“We were glad to be trained together with the NGO members,” said one man, a refugee community leader from the Goz Amir camp. “We learned from them and they learned from us. Now we are aware of our rights." He was one of the more than 50 participants in a HIAS workshop on protecting older refugees from sexual and gender-based violence.

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Apr 27, 2016

Refugees Find a Place at Seders Across the Country

This passover, Jews across the country used HIAS materials to make refugees a part of their seder, starting conversations with family and friends about one of the biggest issues of our time.

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Apr 25, 2016

Washington Post: How South Carolina Could Fail Refugees and Religion

"This proposal rests on a fundamental misconception about refugees and immigrants, one too often promoted by those who peddle in bigotry and fear. Refugees have become our religious leaders and successful entrepreneurs. They are artists, scientists, scholars, police officers, doctors and soldiers; they are our neighbors. But most important, they are children of God, entitled to equal opportunity, dignity and respect," write Hetfield and Moline.

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Apr 21, 2016

On Being a Refugee, Then Helping Others: Repair the World Interviews Zhanna Veyts

In 1989, Veyts and her parents left the Soviet Union for America with the help of HIAS. Today, Veyts works for HIAS supporting refugees going through the same transitions she went through nearly 30 years ago. Repair the World recently spoke to Veyts to find out how her experience shapes her work.

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Apr 20, 2016

PBS Debate Show ‘Point Taken’ Features HIAS VP Melanie Nezer

Melanie Nezer joined PBS’s Point Taken for a lively debate about whether the U.S. has taken in enough refugees in response to the current crisis.

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