— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution interviewed Ellen Beattie, IRC’s regional resettlement director in Atlanta, today for its front page article about Iraqi refugees resettled in the Atlanta area. Beattie described U.S. resettlement efforts as ‘lamentably slow.’ “It’s taken us a long time to wake up to this crisis,” Beattie said, referring to the 4 million Iraqis displaced from their homes since 2003.

 — A Reuters dispatch followed the trip of U.S. high school student Nick Anderson to Darfur with Oxfam America Wednesday. Working with friends Anderson raised more than $300,000 online to help people in Darfur. A portion of the money will go to the IRC.

 — The Dallas Morning-News reported Sunday that the U.S. is in the midst of resettling 25,000 refugees in the last three months of the fiscal year, which ends in September. The article noted after 9/11 refugee resettlement numbers decreased substantially, but are starting to climb. “It took time to adjust to the new provisions, but the refugee admittance processes are working smoothly,” Christine Petrie, IRC deputy vice president for resettlement, said. “Refugees are themselves victims of terror. So there’s no reason why they should get caught up in legislative measures.”

 — Also in the Dallas Morning-News, a profile of Jamala Maye, a Somali refugee, on the front page of its Sunday edition. Maye has worked with refugees translating and tutoring them in English at an IRC after school program in Dallas. Molly Whittington, IRC education coordinator in Dallas, was quoted in the article. The profile led into two pages devoted to articles about refugee issues.

 — The Champion Free Press, a weekly newspaper in Atlanta, named Ei Ei Phyo, an IRC volunteer in Atlanta, its ‘Champion of the Week’ last Friday, August 24. Phyo is a 17-year-old student from Burma who helps by translating for newly arrived Burmese refugees. “I can tell them my story,” Phyo said. “I can also tell them that I have been through it. We can share together.” PDF (see p. 6)