13 September 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT) – The Refugee Processing Center (RPC) reports on refugee admissions and arrivals through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. A total of 691 refugees have been resettled in Kansas since Oct. 1, 2022.
Ukrainian humanitarian parolees are not reported in the FY2023 refugee arrival report because they don’t have the same legal status as refugees who arrive through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, according to Kansas Office for Refugees Director Atim Amy Longa.
On April 21, 2022, President Biden announced Uniting for Ukraine, a new streamlined process to provide Ukrainian citizens the opportunity to come to the United States. The program provides a path for Ukrainian citizens and family members to come to the United States and stay temporarily, with a period of parole of up to two years.
Longa clarified that the asylum-seeking process is separate from the refugee resettlement process or the process for the Uniting for Ukraine program. Applications for asylum are processed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services branch of the Department of Homeland Security.
Top City Promise, a non-profit organization focused on aiding refugees through humanitarian efforts in Topeka and Shawnee County, helped 73 Ukrainian refugees in 2022 and 54 Ukrainian refugees in 2023. Top City Promise has helped a total of 41 Ukrainian families since Oct. 2022.
“They qualify for the same services as refugees,” Top City Promise president Yana Ross said. “From what I understand, the reason they’re coming in as parolees is because it takes longer to come in with refugee status. There’s more requirements to be met on the refugee side.”
RPC data on the number of refugees resettled in Kansas from Oct. 1 2022 to Aug. 31 2023.
CountryNo. of RefugeesDem. Rep. Congo318Syria86Sudan67Burma60Afghanistan54Somalia21Guatemala20Republic of South Africa20Honduras9Venezuela9Burundi7Central Africa5Iraq5Colombia3Eritrea3Namibia3Nicaragua1TOTAL:691
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