Forging Bonds of Love and Friendship: The Integration into the U.S.
Bahá’í Community of Bahá’ís Arriving from Iran
National Persian-American Affairs Task Force
This
timely workshop tackled issues that many communities are facing with
the current influx of Iranian refugees.
Task force members took the audience through the history of Persian
immigration to the United States and outlined the particular needs of
those friends arriving today. They also distinguished between the material
responsibilities of agencies contracted by the US government and the
spiritual responsibilities of the Bahá’í community. The key, said
task force members, is love. What the new arrivals need from their fellow
Bahá’ís are emotional help, cultural guideposts, language skills
and—last but not least—avenues for service.
The goal is for refugees to attain self-sufficiency as soon as possible
in their new environment.
Audience members from various cities added their own advice from recent
experience. In that vital effort, assured the members of the task force,
Bahá’í communities can count on the assistance of both the US Bahá’í
Refugee Office and the Office of Persian-American Affairs.
—Tom Mennillo, reporter
