Just under a thousand (1,000) refugees have been resettled in Iowa so far this year. Larry Bartlett, the director of admissions for the U.S. State Department, says while these new Iowans come from all over the world, the one thing they all have in common is that they were forced to leave their homes.
Nearly a quarter of the new Iowa residents come from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bartlett says, unlike Syria, many Americans are less aware of the ongoing political instability and violence in that central African nation.
The Congolese in Iowa are resettling in the Des Moines metro and the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City areas. Around 85 Syrians have also settled in Des Moines.
