Resettlement groups in Minnesota said the state will likely see more refugees from Somalia, Burma and Nepal

Associated Press:

The groups made their projections after President Bush announced this week that the United States would accept up to 70,000 refugees between Oct. 1 and Sept. 30, 2006.

The number of refugees that will end up in Minnesota depends on whether other family members are here to sponsor them and have applied to do so, whether conditions here are considered good for refugees and whether there are processing delays.

The number of Somalis is expected to remain strong, if not grow, said John Borden, executive director of the International Institute of Minnesota, which helped resettle almost 40 percent of Minnesota's refugees in 2004.

Borden said the large Ethiopian exodus has nearly ended, Borden said.

"Ethiopia is largely resettled," Borden said. "There is potential for a higher percentage of the Somalis and West Africans. So among Somalis, you will see smiles."

Barlin Adan, 33, said she's happy about the prospect of more Somali refugees here.

"I'm very happy to welcome them," says Adan, who's from Somalia. "We're going to be a larger community to vote."

Omar Jamal, director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul, said many Somalis in Minnesota have waited years to be reunited with family members.

Adar Kahin, 53, came to St. Paul 10 years ago and married her Somali husband in 2001 during a visit to Africa. He is in Nairobi, Kenya, and is waiting to come here, Kahin said.

"It's a long time," she said. "I'm tired."

The number of refugees coming to the United States declined after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But the number has rebounded. Minnesota ranked No. 3 in 2004, due in part to a large number of Hmong coming from Laos via the Wat Tham Krabok refugee camp in Thailand.

"The group in the Wat is the last group that will be processed as a group," said Peter Eisenhauer of the Population, Refugees and Migration bureau of U.S. State Department.

Hmong refugees already "in the pipeline" for admission will continue arriving, but no new groups of Hmong refugees will be accepted.

Instead, the state might see more Burmese and Tibetans, who fled to Nepal because of oppression in Chinese-occupied Tibet. The Tibetans are not classified as refugees, but that group is "under serious consideration" for refugee status, Eisenhauer said.

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