plaining . Complaints are not well tolerated by governments needing to maintain control . A week or so after Joseph made his plea for compensation , a group of armed men entered his home and savagely beat him , breaking both legs . Joseph was burned all over his body , strangled and left with permanent hearing loss from beatings to his head . The armed men proceeded to rape his wife in front of him . They threatened to kill Joseph ’ s family if he were to complain again . The force on his larynx rendered him without speech , and his broken legs for which he could not seek treatment in local hospitals , left him wheelchair bound . There was no staying in that country . They had to escape . That meant , despite the injuries and the shame he and his wife felt , they had to take dangerous routes to cross the border to a neighboring country , seeking refugee status and living in a crowded and unsanitary camp .
Getting from the camps to the US is a difficult process . The US Department of State , Bureau of Population , Refugees and Migration ( PRM ) establishes the admission policies and coordinates the overseas processing of refugees . There are nine national voluntary agencies that coordinate the resettlement of approved refugees through a network of local affiliates . After initial arrival , the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement ( ORR ) provides funding and support for medical , employment and social services for refugees and eligible clients . Countless public-private partnerships comprise the United States ’ refugee resettlement program with goals of integration and self-sufficiency . In Louisville , two resettlement agencies assist in welcoming refugees and other eligible clients : Catholic Charities ’ Migration & Refugee Services ( MRS ) and Kentucky Refugee Ministries ( KRM ). There are plans for a third agency , International Rescue Committee ( IRC ), to open an office in the next year . The Kentucky Office for Refugees ( KOR ), a department of Catholic Charities of Louisville , is designated by ORR to administer the state refugee resettlement program and to serve as the State Refugee Coordinator ’ s office .
Once here , refugee clients participate in a domestic medical exam called the Refugee Health Assessment ( RHA ). These screenings are funded by ORR with clinical recommendations from the
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From the Kentucky Office of Refugees www . kentuckyrefugees . org / refugees-in-kentucky / louisville /
Per the Kentucky Office of Refugees , in Fiscal Year 2019 Kentucky welcomed refugee clients from these top ten nationalities : 1-Democratic Republic of the Congo ; 2-Cuba ; 3-Burma ; 4-Ukraine ; 5-Somalia ; 6-Burundi ; 7-Afghanistan ; 8-Syria ; 9-Eritrea ; 10- Iraq .
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . RHAs include a brief mental health screener and a few questions to assess if the refugee personally has been tortured or has witnessed torture . Those who disclose a history of torture are referred to the Survivors of Torture Services ( STS ).
Survivors of torture experience the myriad challenges of all newly arrived refugees - encountering a brand-new culture , language , health system and way of living . With minimal support , they are expected to become financially self-sufficient within a few short months of arrival . In addition , survivors of torture also bear the burdens of pervasive fear and feelings of distrust , shame and humiliation . They often suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ), major depressive disorder and panic or other anxiety disorders . They often have nightmares about what happened to them , with feelings of profound sadness , anger or guilt . Physical symptoms of fatigue , insomnia , chest pain , palpitations , headaches , body pain , decreased appetite and digestive issues are all common in survivors of torture .
Providers at the STS focus first and foremost on creating a ( continued on page 18 ) DECEMBER 2021 17