U.N., U.S. Resettling 50,000 Congolese Refugees

One of the most ambitious refugee resettlement efforts out of Africa is taking place right now. The United Nations refugee agency is aiming to find homes for at least 50,000 Congolese refugees over the next few years. They will be taken in by countries around the world, but primarily by the U.S.

This effort comes at a time when the number of refugees and internally displaced people worldwide has passed 50 million – the most since World War II. The majority of those who are displaced are in just five countries: Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Sandra Uwiringiyimana is a 20-year-old refugee from Congo. She arrived in the U.S. eight years ago, after surviving a massacre at the U.N.'s Gatumba Refugee Camp in Burundi in 2004. Here & Now's Robin Young talks with Uwiringiyimana about her experience.

She also speaks with Sasha Chanoff, who put together the rescue proposal for survivors of that massacre that paved the way for Uwiringiyimana and her family to come to the U.S. Sasha is the co-founder and executive director of RefugePoint, an organization that works to protect the most vulnerable refugees.