Refugee Advocates Call for Audit

None by KCPW

Federal Dollars Spent in Utah Need Accountability

(KCPW News) Citing poor accountability, local refugee advocates are calling for an independent audit of federal dollars spent on the resettlement of refugees in Utah over the last five years.

Dr. Buba Roth has been advocating for Utah's refugee community for 17 years, and she questions how federal dollars are allocated and spent in Utah. Anecdotally, Roth says there is evidence that many refugee families are left on their own three to four months after federally-financed programs bring them here.

During a townhall meeting last weekend, Roth says some refugees reported they would rather be back in the camps of their war torn homelands than set adrift in a completely foreign culture.

Stanford Aderibigbe, vice chair of the Utah Consortium of Multicultural Groups, also wants the Utah Legislature to start investing in Utah's refugee community. He claims Utah doesn't allocate a single dollar of state money to refugees, and that it's one of the few states that doesn't.

Roth and Aderibigbe are gathering data on the situation and expect to have a report ready to submit to Governor Jon Huntsman by the end of the month.

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