Jewish’ communities throughout the United States will participate in the resettlement of 123 of the 1000 Cambodian refugees arriving in this country within the next several days, according to Gaynor I. Jacobson, executive vice-president of United HIAS Service. To date, a number of Jewish communities, including New York City; Chicago; Philadelphia; Los Angeles; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Atlanta; New Haven, Conn.; and Des Moines, Iowa have agreed to participate in this humanitarian program. Others are expected to join shortly, Jacobson said.
HIAS, along with Catholic, Protestant and non-sectarian voluntary agencies, is taking part in the resettlement of Cambodians at the request of the U.S. State Department. As the worldwide Jewish migration agency, HIAS will seek the cooperation of local Jewish communities in accepting families for resettlement. Participation in the resettlement of non-Jewish refugees is not new to HIAS. In 1972, the agency resettled several hundred Moslem and Hindu Asian Ugandans, expelled from Uganda by President Idi Amin. The Cambodian refugees are mainly Buddhists and Catholics.
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