News Article by XINHUA posted on November 13, 2000 at 13:04:50: EST (-5 GMT)
About 3,800 Sudanese Refugees to Be Resettled in U.S.
NAIROBI (Nov. 13) XINHUA - Some 3,800 young Sudanese refugees who
have
been living in a camp in northern Kenya for nearly 10 years will be
resettled
in the United States over the next several months.
Many of the refugees are orphaned male teenagers, who fled the fighting
in
southern Sudan in the late 1980s, Kenya's major weekly the East
African
reported on Monday.
The first group of 50 Sudanese from the Kakuma camp arrived in New
York
last week, and the others to be admitted to the U.S. under a refugee
resettlement
program will be assisted by various American charities in taking
up residence in
cities such as Boston, Seattle and Philadelphia, according to
the paper.
The move, which was recommended by the United Nations High
Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR), is overseen by the U.S. State Department.
It is the first
time the UNHCR has approved the resettlement of such a large
number of
unaccompanied minors in a third country.
UNHCR said that the move followed fruitless efforts by the Red Cross to
locate
relatives of the boys in Sudan.