We help refugees from the moment of their arrival through their journey to citizenship with proven pathways to self-sufficiency and success.
We help ensure that new Americans contribute their special skills and talents to strengthen the American workforce and help Georgia thrive.
What’s New
May 2019 Volunteer Spotlight- Aqil Merchant
At our Breaking Bread Volunteer Appreciation Brunch this month, we presented four outstanding volunteers with “Volunteer of the Year” awards. Our recipient of the “Young Path” award, Aqil Merchant, is featured this month.
Aqil is a local high school student and was moved by news coverage he saw about the refugee crisis. He wanted to take action, so he went to his classmates to ask them to join him in making a difference. Aqil is the founder and leader of ...
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The Power of Refugee Stories in Advocacy
On May 8th and 9th, I joined over three hundred advocates from thirty-two states in Washington DC, for the Refugee Council USA advocacy days. In attendance were close to a hundred former refugees from diverse countries. I was really pleased to see many of my friends from the refugee community and connected with new ones. We were all in DC to advocate for a robust refugee resettlement program, and lift up stories of many refugee families still impacted by the ...
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Cuba Nearly 1 million Cuban exiles live in the United States due to ongoing political persecution in Cuba. Cuban refugees are served under the Cuban Haitian Program of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Sudan In 2013, prolonged civil war and interethnic violence resulted in 600,000 Sudanese refugees living in the surrounding countries. Central African Republic The Central African Republic has suffered decades of internal conflict, with heightened instability in 2013. The global number of Central African refugees is approximately 220,000. Congo Approximately 450,000 refugees remain in neighboring countries, due to ongoing armed conflict in eastern DRC. Somalia More than 3,000 refugees from the war-torn nation of Somalia have entered Atlanta since 2004. The Somali community in Atlanta has bridged ethnic divisions and established a unified Somali-American Association that is helping families engage the American school system and promote college access for Somali youth, among other services. Eritrea Eritrean refugees have fled decades of instability and human rights violations. The majority of Eritrean refugees, including unaccompanied minors, move through camps in Ethiopia before resettlement. Iraq Many Iraqi nationals have fled Iraq due to war or persecution. Over 2,000 Iraqi refugees have been resettled in Georgia since 2005. Many Iraqi refugees worked with the US Government during the Iraq War. Iran Over 700 Iranian refugees have arrived in Georgia since 2004. Burma/Myanmar Ethnic conflict in Burma began shortly after the country’s independence in 1948. Due to internal conflict, approximately 160,000 Burmese refugees live in Thailand, while many more Burmese live in other countries in the region. Bhutan In the early 1990s the Bhutanese government expelled ethnic Nepalis from the southern part of the country. Most have been living in refugee camps in eastern Nepal ever since. Many Bhutanese community groups now exist in Atlanta. Syria Since 2011, the conflict in Syria has displaced nearly 9.5 million people, more than 40% of the country’s pre-war population. Of these, over 3 million have found temporary asylum in the neighboring countries of Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. Just over 1,500 Syrians have been resettled in the U.S. Syrian arrivals continue to rise in FY2017. Afghanistan Afghanistan is one of the top countries of origin for refugees, with over 2.6 million refugees in 2014, only 50,000 of whom were resettled worldwide. Fewer than 500 Afghan refugees have come to Georgia over the past 10 years. Many Afghan refugees also served with the U.S. Armed Forces during recent conflicts in the Middle East.
Georgia has one of the most successful refugee resettlement and support programs in the country.
Annually, up to 110,000 refugees (less than 1% of the world’s refugee population) are resettled in the United States through a U.S. humanitarian program. Refugees enter the U.S. legally and are on track to become U.S. citizens after 5 years. In 2016, New American Pathways welcomed 502 of the refugees resettled in metro Atlanta. Our refugees and asylees represent 16 countries. Currently, most of our clients are coming from Burma (Myanmar), Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Congo.
In partnership with 
