The IRC’s founders responded to the rise of Nazi terror with swift, independent action. Thanks to the daring work of Varian Fry and others, thousands of refugees were able to escape from Nazi-occupied France. More than that, however, the IRC stayed with the suffering refugees of Europe long after the guns of World War II had fallen silent. We helped Europe’s displaced to return to their homes, and we aided the brave Hungarian revolutionaries in 1956.

By 1960, the IRC faced a crossroads. The IRC had begun as a temporary committee, arising from a crisis in Europe. The question that now arose went to the core of the IRC’s mission and was to determine its course into the 21st century. Did the IRC’s mandate extend to aiding the many thousands of refugees being driven from their homes in Asia, Africa, and Latin America?

The IRC’s leadership decided that to limit its mission to the borders of Europe would betray the impulse on which it was founded. Instead, the IRC determined that the organization had a global mission and responsibility. From 1960 to 1967, the IRC helped people fleeing Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Angola, Uganda, and Nigeria.

During those same years, the IRC began a long-term relationship with people fleeing Cuba. In 1959, rebel forces in Cuba overthrew its unpopular dictator, Fulgencio Batista. A young revolutionary by the name of Fidel Castro took control of the government. By year’s end he had drawn closer to the Soviet Union and committed a series of political executions and expulsions.

So began a new flow of refugees, one that would profoundly shape the IRC’s emerging international role.

Within a month of Castro’s rise to power, the IRC was on the scene gathering information and soon become one of the principal agencies helping Cubans to reach America, resettling more than 62,000 during the 1960s and 70s. As more and more refugees arrived in Florida, the IRC opened an office in Miami, its first resettlement office outside New York. IRC caseworkers focused on helping to find jobs, a place to live, and warm clothes for the refugees. Today, the IRC’s 25 U.S. resettlement offices carry out much the same work.

In 1969, two young Cubans hid in a wheel compartment on a jetliner bound for Madrid. One of the refugees dropped into the sea; but the other, a 17-year-old, miraculously survived the nine-hour flight. With the IRC’s sponsorship, he found a home in the United States. Then IRC president William J. vanden Heuvel reported that when asked why the young man had taken such an incredible risk, the new refugee replied, “I was looking for a better world and a new future.”

“People [at the immigration detention center] told us that children were being punished for normal kid stuff—running around, making noise, tantrums. I have a two- and four-year-old at home, and I kept thinking, how would I manage in here keeping them under control?”

- Michelle Brané, director of the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children’s detention and asylum program, speaking with The New Yorker for an article about the effects of U.S. detention policies on immigrant families.

“Today’s humanitarian crisis in Iraq — and the potential consequences for our national security — are great. Can the United States afford to gamble that 4 million or more poor and displaced people, in the heart of Middle East, won’t explode in violent desperation, sending the whole region into further disorder?”

- Angelina Jolie, actor and UNHCR Goodwill ambassador,  in an editorial in today’s Washington Post about the Iraqi refugee crisis. The International Rescue Committee honored Jolie and António Guterres, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, with the 2007 Freedom Award last November.

“Unless they are already outside of Iraq and have made their way through the refugee program on their own merits, it’s very, very difficult for us to unify families. It is going to be a long wait.”

- Susan Donovan, IRC;s resettlement director in Charlottesville, telling The Daily Progress about the difficulties Iraqi refugee families have staying together.

“These casualties are the result of civil war, lack of a stable government and the collision of warring factions, including Hutus from neighboring Rwanda.”

- Parade’s Intelligence Report, citing the IRC’s recent mortality survey in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

98% interest. That’s how much a Sudanese refugee in San Diego was being charged for a loan that he received from a less-than reputable financing company 10 months ago. He sent the money to his mother in Africa, who was ill and needed the funds to pay for medical care. After repaying nearly $2500 over 10 months, his outstanding principal balance was HIGHER than when he began because he made two late payments. The financing company was taking funds directly out of his barren checking account as soon as any deposits were made, he had lost his job, he was falling behind on his credit card payments, and the bank was about to repossess his car.

IRC‘s San Diego financial literacy program was able to package a loan for this refugee that paid off his 98% interest loan and his outstanding credit card debt in full. The IRC loan was also used to bring him current on his auto loan, preventing the vehicle’s repossession. With greatly reduced expenses and the recent attainment of steady income, he has realized some sense of financial normalcy. He plans to re-enroll in college this fall.

Three weeks ago, I had the great opportunity to share this story and several others like it with IRC’s Board of Directors when my colleague Kate Hughes and I traveled to IRC HQ in NYC to present on IRC’s San Diego community and economic development programs. For an organization that works in more than 25 countries and employs thousands of individuals, being given time at a Board of Directors meeting was, to be blunt, a big deal.

The focus shifted from successful business owners and homeowners to refugee health and community gardens when Kate began her portion of our presentation. Kate’s work is of particular interest because it is the first time that IRC has delved into food security programs. After two rounds of unexpected applause and a brief Q&A session, Kate and I returned to our seats for the duration of the board meeting, relieved of the nervous energy that filled us before our presentation.

The rest of the board meeting was focused on IRC’s important work overseas; Iraqi refugees, our emergency response approach, and an updated look at the situations in Somalia and Darfur. I listened intently as each of these issues was discussed, and was exhilarated to witness the context of the discussion always focused on “the humanitarian thing to do.” It is not every day that you get to witness the primary decision-making body of an international aid organization discuss ways to alleviate suffering throughout the world.

In reflecting on my trip, I can point to two interrelated insights that I gained:

First, with more in-depth, first-hand knowledge of IRC’s work abroad, I have a better context for the role of my economic development work domestically. My department is at the tail-end of a compelling & vertically integrated continuum of services stretching from some of the most remote locations in the world all the way to sunny San Diego. The IRC can provide emergency relief when a refugee is forced to flee their home, set up short-term camps to keep people alive and safe, assist in the processing for those individuals fortunate enough to be slated for resettlement, provide for airport pickup and initial housing for those brought to the U.S., assist in reuniting families domestically, assist in learning English, assist in finding employment, help refugee students with after-school programming, help in starting a business, assist in saving for a down payment on a home, and offer education and financial products that can help new arrivals avoid predatory lenders and fringe financial service providers–some of whom charge 98% interest. Pretty amazing when you step back and take a look at it.

The second major insight: I am very fortunate to do what I do.

“It’s assaults with bottles and sticks, you name it. It’s brutal. It’s absolutely terrifying … They (rape survivors) won’t live with dignity.”   

- Sarah Mosely, who oversees IRC programs in eastern Congo for survivors of sexual violence, telling NBC News anchor Ann Curry about the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war in the region.

“There are things so horrible that decent men and women find them impossible to believe. Their ends are the enslavement and annihilation of the Jews . . . [and] after them, of all the non-German peoples of Europe, and if possible, the entire world”   

- Varian Fry, writing in The New Republic in December 1942. Fry was sent on a secret mission to Europe by the Emergency Rescue Committee (now the International Rescue Committee) to rescue people on the Nazis’ “most wanted” list.

“The U.S. response to the Iraqi refugee crisis is best characterized as on-going willful denial.”   

- Michael Kocher, IRC acting vice president of international programs, interviewed for a Cox News Service story on Iraqi refugee resettlement in Sweden and the low number being resettled in the U.S.

“To me courage is like a chain. What is most rewarding about my job is to reach out to others and see them find the courage deep within themselves, discover their own voice and reach out to others.”   

- Gertrude Garway, IRC gender-based violence program manager in Liberia, talking about her work with survivors of sexual violence. A new IRC project is enabling women in Liberia and other conflict zones to make their voices heard and help create positive change in their communities.