World Relief Cuts at Least 140 Positions, Closes 5 Offices in Wake of Trump’s Refugee Order | Sojourners

World Relief Cuts at Least 140 Positions, Closes 5 Offices in Wake of Trump’s Refugee Order

Syrian mother with three children in one of the Asylum Centers near Belgrade on Jan. 31. Zeljko Sinobad / Shutterstock.com

World Relief, a global humanitarian organization and one of the main non-governmental organizations involved in the U.S. refugee resettlement program, announced today that the organization is laying off at least 140 employees and shuttering five local offices "as a direct result of the recent decision by the Trump Administration to dramatically reduce the number of refugees resettled in the U.S. throughout fiscal year 2017."

“America is now less able to help those around the world who need our help the most," said Tim Breene, CEO of World Relief, in a news release.

In the same release, World Relief President Scott Arbeiter praised the employees who served at the local offices affected, which include Boise, Idaho; Columbus, Ohio; Miami; Nashville, Tennessee; and Glen Burnie, Maryland  

" ... These staff members are also experts whose vast experience has brought an effectiveness and professionalism to their work. This represents a loss of more than 140 jobs—which by itself is deeply troubling—but also decades of organizational expertise and invaluable capacity to serve the world’s most vulnerable people.”

The announcement directly names as the impetus President Donald Trump's decision to reduce refugee resettlements in the U.S. as spelled out in his executive order that suspended travel from seven Muslim-majority nations.

"... the entry of more than 50,000 refugees in fiscal year 2017 would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and thus [I] suspend any such entry until such time as I determine that additional admissions would be in the national interest," the executive order reads. 

That number represents about a 40 percent reduction from 2016 in number of refugees admitted.

Read the full news release here.

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