World Relief is a relief organization that helps refugees all over the globe settle in their new country, including in the United States, where the group is headquartered. Driven by a religious commitment to aid the poor and the needy, World Relief seeks to follow the example of Christ and "serve those who are suffering from poverty and injustice."
But they also receive "up to 70%" of their funding from the U.S. government through grants, which means they also have a responsibility not to use that money to proselytize or indoctrinate those they serve. And (as the BJC and other groups continue to urge) it should mean that they may not use those funds to create jobs that are subject to religious discrimination in hiring. Under current administration policy, though, World Relief can and does refuse to hire non-Christians. And real life people who may otherwise be perfect for a service-providing job funded by taxpayers are being denied simply because of their faith:
To [Saad] Mohammad Ali, it seems unusual that he could serve as a volunteer and later as a paid contractor for World Relief, but can't be employed there.
His frustration is not with local workers who advocated for him and even sought an exception on his behalf from the agency's headquarters, he said, but with a policy he finds in conflict with everything he's learned about this country.
"I've heard over and over again that in the U.S., discrimination in any form is not accepted," he said.
"So it was a disappointment."
Ali, an Iraqi refugee with a degree in statistics who is fluent in English and Arabic, has worked for the U.S. as an interpreter and was qualified and prepared to do valuable work assisting other refugees from the Middle East. Essentially given the choice of meaningful publicly-funded employment or maintaining his faith, he is now a baggage handler at the Seattle International Airport.
