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Syrian Refugee Tells Of Life In Connecticut

A "welcome to New Haven" sign is pictured in 2006. (hapinachu/Flickr)
A "welcome to New Haven" sign is pictured in 2006. (hapinachu/Flickr)

Secretary of State John Kerry will head to Vienna this weekend for more talks on the crisis in Syria. About 12 million people have been displaced since the civil war started in 2011, and fewer than 2,000 have come to the U.S. One of them is 25-year old Abdu. He does not want his full name used out of fear for the safety of friends and family still in Syria.

Abdu came to the U.S. six months ago. He’s living outside of New Haven, Connecticut. Here & Now’s Robin Young spoke with him, and an interpreter, Akram Hussein. She also spoke with Chris George, executive director of IRIS, that’s Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services. It’s in New Haven, Connecticut, and the agency helped to settle Abdu.

Correction: In the audio of this story, we misstated the translator’s alma mater. He graduated from the University of New Haven, not Yale. We regret the error.

Guests

  • Abdu, Syrian refugee living outside of New Haven, Connecticut.
  • Akram Hussein, volunteer interpreter for Arabic, Turkish and English, at Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services.
  • Chris George, executive director of Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services in New Haven, Connecticut.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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