More than 6,700 Iraqi and some 500 Sudanese refugees registered with the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) live in Lebanon. Lebanon has not ratified the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees< granting refugees legal protection. Therefore without a residence permit, many reside and work in the country illegally.

At the crossroads between Asia and Europe, ICMC’s Resettlement Support Center Turkey and Middle East (RSC TuME) has helped refugees of more than 30 nationalities from Africa, the Middle East, East Asia, Europe and Eastern Europe in their aspiration to start a more sustainable life in the United States.

ICMC’s RSC TuME is a proud partner of the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (BPRM), and has an office in Istanbul and a sub-office in Beirut, Lebanon. It also processes cases through regular missions to Kuwait, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates.

The interviewing of Iraqi refugees for possible resettlement to the United States, the “cultural orientation” classes to prepare refugees for a new life in the U.S., and preparing files for the resettlement application process constitute most of the work of the RSC TuME. Iraqi refugees make up 96 per cent, and Sudanese refugees 3 per cent, of the refugees pre-screened in the ICMC Beirut office.

With Syria, Jordan, and Israel at its borders, Lebanon has a rich cultural heritage of religious and ethnic diversity. From 1975 to 1990, it underwent a sectarian civil war of which the stigma can still be seen around the city of Beirut.

A dedicated team of ICMC RSC caseworkers in Beirut throughout the year conduct pre-screening interviews of refugees referred by the UNHCR to the United States for resettlement. They are young, motivated and come prepared with solid and diverse backgrounds in psychology, international affairs and development studies. Above all, they are on a mission to make a difference in refugees’ lives.

Caseworkers compile refugee accounts of persecution and violence, which constitute the reason for which they are seeking protection. They also collect basic (including biological) data of each individual required to prepare the refugees’ applications for resettlement to the United States.

The following are four interviews of some of our staff in Beirut, conducted by Lori Brumat, ICMC Head of Communications:

Wissam El Dalati, Senior Refugee Information Caseworker

In charge of informing and counselling refugees on different issues, from public health to social education, Wissam has worked with ICMC since 2008.

Wissam started off his career assisting refugees in a Palestinian camp.

LB: You hold a Bachelor of Art in Communications and a Masters’ degree in Special Education. You also hold a license as a physiotherapist. How does this diverse background come in handy in this job?

WE: I am always teaching people how to adapt, how to find another angle for life or another angle for problems. I show them how others have the same problems. So I combine all my expertise in doing this.

I found it very interesting to work on the other part, as we interview refugees applying for resettlement, which is helping people to get a new start, a new life, a new future.

LB: What do you like the most about ICMC?

WE: We all come from different cultural and religious background and this helps us to relate with refugees, understand where they come from, how pluralistic the world is and realize that we all have different prospective.

LB: What is most rewarding about your job?

WE: Each day I feel like I am blessed because I am helping people and I feel like my life has meaning.

Maysa Hamdan, caseworker

Maysa, Senior Caseworker, has been part of ICMC team for the past two years.

LB: What are the challenges of interviewing refugees?

MH: It is a very challenging job because no one applying for resettlement has an easy story. You hear different stories every day. I am playing my role in helping their life to some extent. I have a role and this role is a pebble stone towards what refugees want to get eventually for a better life.

LB: Drawing from your experience with refugees, in your opinion, what does it take to be a refugee?

MH: What it takes to be a refugee and to get through their experience is to have actual belief that something will change along the way. They need to know that there are options.

LB: What do you learn working at ICMC?

MH: You learn a lot of things, a lot of stories. You learn more about where you live and how life in Lebanon could be from a different perspective. You actually feel the difficulties and the challenges that there are for refugees. In a word, you learn about life.

LB: What do you like about working at ICMC?

MH: For me, it is very rewarding. I personally follow up the cases. I know that some of them are now in the United States and are safe. Despite all the difficulties they went through, they left for a better life.

Rasha El Hallak, Caseworker

Rasha is 25 years old and currently studying towards a Masters of Political Studies at the American University of Beirut (AUB). She has worked as ICMC caseworker for the past two years.

LB: In your opinion, what is ICMC’s mission?

RE: Trying to improve the quality of life of as many people as possible, regardless of their faith or ethnic background.

LB. What do your daily interactions with real narratives of displacement give you?

RE: You never really learn about a conflict unless you meet someone who has been exposed to it and who has suffered from that. Helping people that have experienced such traumas is the most rewarding aspect of being part of ICMC team.

LB: What is your biggest challenge at work?

RE: It is showing complete detachment from the stories I listen to everyday from refugees. During the interview I need to avoid being too emotional. For a caseworker, finding the balance between being sensitive and staying neutral is not easy.

During my studies in psychology, I have been training to get people talk without feeling that they can be judged. I always try to bring balance and to make refugees think that there is no bias at all receiving their stories.

LB: What is the most important skill a caseworker should have?

RE: It’s the ability to counsel people in need making them feel comfortable and completely safe. They have to feel that they can just be whatever they want to be, say whatever they want to say because they are not talking to someone with a preconceived opinion or a presumption.

Anthony Habib, Case processor

Having witnessed first-hand the social impact of the 2006 war in his country, Anthony’s empathy and the urge to do his share to help vulnerable refugees are some of the reasons that drew him to ICMC.

LB: Please describe your job for us.

AH: I am a case processor. Basically I process the case of the refugees for them to travel to the States. After the refugees get pre-screened at ICMC. ICMC faciliates the adjudication process for the refugees at the U.S.Embassy and we assist them if they need anything. After the result comes (about their resettlement application), we will keep following up the case to make sure they complete all stages of processing and receive the permission to travel.

LB: What is work like at ICMC Beirut?

AH. We, at ICMC Beirut, are like a family. We work together, determined to support one purpose: helping refugees in need.

LB: What pushes you to get up in the morning and come to work?

AH: I saw Lebanese people during the war. I saw their hurt and the way they felt. So, imagine this happening on a bigger scale. Iraqi and Sudanese refugees leave their family, their homes and come to a country they don’t know anything about. They feel lost. This is what motivates me everyday: to come to work and help refugees’.

LB: How does your job make a difference in the lives of the refugees you meet?

AH: As refugees they often don’t have the money to reside in Lebanon in a legal way. They left their country and everything behind, so they come to Lebanon having nothing.. It's hard for them to find a job in Lebanon and if they do it is a very low salary. They can’t live in this situation Resettlement gives hope for the future and a chance to make a new beginning in the U.S., where they have rights and can live peacefully.

-- by Carolina Prandelli in Geneva with reporting by Kate Dorsch in Beirut; photos by Andrew Bossone

Photocredit © ICMC/ March 2013