The Foreign Service Journal, April 2016

36 APRIL 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL W hen I retired from the Senior Foreign Service in 2004, after a 38-year career, I vowed that I would only return to full-time work if I could “do good.” An opportunity to do just that came in August 2007, when I accepted an offer to become executive director for migration and refugee services at the U.S. Confer- ence of Catholic Bishops. In that position, which I held until February 2015, I man- aged the world’s largest nongovernmental resettlement agency. The Office of Migration and Refugee Services has a budget of more than $80 million, a staff of 106, and more than 80 affiliate resettlement offices across the United States. MRS, as I will refer to it here, is one of nine faith-based and secular organizations that partner with the State Department and the Department of Health and Human Services to resettle and assist refugees. To give you an idea of how vital its work is, I’ll note that of the 70,000 refugees the U.S. government admitted in 2014, MRS resettled more than 16,000—nearly a quarter of the total. Pitching In to Do Vital Work FOCUS ON HUMANITARIAN DIPLOMACY The process begins overseas when the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees interviews a prospec- tive refugee and determines that he or she meets the criteria to be designated a refugee, and can neither return home nor remain in the country of asylum. Candidates approved for resettlement in a third country must undergo an extensive series of clearances and multiple security checks, which typically take between 18 and 24 months for those coming to the United States. Only then may the refugee travel to the country of referral. Of the millions of refugees in camps and urban areas around the world, only about 1 percent may be selected for resettlement each year. Work on Many Fronts at Home and Abroad It was clear to me frommy first day on the job at MRS that I had entered an incredible world of exceptionally dedicated, hard-working professionals who are totally committed to the best interest of refugees. This world included my immediate colleagues at MRS and contacts and colleagues from the broader refugee resettlement community, including the network of U.S government agencies and offices. The role of all of these players in refugee work is not just to protect refugees, but to offer them hope and a second chance at a normal life. My responsibilities at MRS encompassed several areas. First and foremost was managing our headquarters and its affiliates so we could continue to process refugees for resettlement fairly, efficiently and cost-effectively. During my tenure, our budget increased from $50 million to $80 million, primarily for program- matic increases to assist refugees at higher levels of allowance, something for which we had vigorously advocated. A distinguished ambassador describes work in the world of refugee resettlement. BY JOHNNY YOUNG Johnny Young retired from the Senior Foreign Service in 2004 with the rank of Career Ambassador, after serving as chief of mission in Sierra Leone, Togo, Bahrain and Slovenia, among many other Foreign Service assignments. From 2007 to 2015 Ambassador Young was the executive director of the Migration and Refugee Services Office for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.