In the world today, there are millions of people who are unable to return to the country in which they were born. These individuals are called refugees. Refugees are people living outside of their country of origin who cannot return to their home due to fear of persecution based on their race, religion, ethnic group, or membership in a particular social or political group. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is the United Nations Refugee Agency estimates that today there are 10 million refugees world wide from places such as Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, the DR Congo, Burundi, and Myanmar that seek asylum in a new country.
The United States has a history of providing safe haven to those fleeing oppression and war. The legal basis of the refugee admissions program is the Refugee Act of 1980, which formalized the longstanding American tradition of granting refuge to persons in need. Since 1980, we have provided resettlement to more than 2.5 million refugees. Annually, Virginia resettles approximately 1,700 refugees. Virginia's refugees have historically come from areas including Africa, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Approximately fifty-five percent of refugees relocate in the Northern Virginia area.
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