FRESNO (KMJ) — As many as 150 Syrian refugees could be coming to the City of Fresno.
That number is a part of the 4.7 million people which the United Nations estimates have left the middle eastern country following the outbreak of Civil War in 2011. That number is greater than the population of Oregon.
“We’re excited and we’re ready to help”, says Zack Darrah. He’s the Executive Director at Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries, or FIRM.
He says they were approached a few weeks ago through some partners, to establish if they were able to help plan for Syrian refugees coming to Fresno.
“I do know for a fact right now, that we have at least seven families who are here in Fresno right now….as of last Thursday.
“As I understand, and this is what I’ve been told by others, they were originally settled in Turlock and they knew some people here in Fresno and so they wanted to move to Fresno”.
Those seven families are being housed near the mosque on Shaw Avenue. It’s expected that any future refugees coming to the city will also be placed in the same area.
“An organization called the International Rescue Committee, ‘IRC’,…they are working with the State Department right now to essentially get approval to resettle refugees from Syria in Fresno”.
Darrah adds that, if it all goes ahead, the housing effort will begin fiscal year 2017. But he emphasized that the plan is yet to be confirmed.
“This is all if Fresno gets approved. As of today, people should probably know that Fresno has not been approved by the State Department to resettle [the refugees]”..
Hear the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
