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GREENSBORO - The dismal economy isn't just having an effect on those who live here. It's also affecting the lives of those who might have lived here.

Once a hotbed of refugee resettlement activity, Greensboro might be seeing a decline in the number of refugees coming into the area.

With job opportunities and financial support on the wane, one of the area's largest resettlement agencies is slashing the number of refugees it plans to bring here this year.

Lutheran Family Services in the Carolinas, which brought in 282 refugees in the 12-month span that ended in September 2008, plans to bring in just 185 this year .

"We want to make sure that we're providing the best services possible," said Sarah Ivory , the group's interim director for refugee services.

The agency's parent organization, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, is one of several national agencies that work closely with the federal government to resettle refugees who are persecuted in their home countries. The government pays part of the cost of bringing refugees here and helping them get settled, while the private agencies provide the rest.

Finding jobs for them has become more difficult, and the agency has lost two case workers who helped refugees adjust to their new lives, Ivory said.

The move comes as some refugee advocates have criticized resettlement agencies, as well as the federal government, for bringing in more refugees than an ailing economy can handle.

Long-established workers are being laid off or seeing their hours cut. In that environment, finding work for someone who might not speak English and might not have certain skills can be difficult.

"This is a crisis. To me, the federal government should just not bring any more refugees here," said Imam Badi Ali, president of the Islamic Center of the Triad , which assists area refugees. "If we can't find jobs for American citizens, how are we going to find jobs for the newcomers?"

Sister Amal Sayed , who works closely with refugee families, said when the Islamic Center got involved, they expected to work with a few families.

That has since turned into a flood - some brought by Lutheran Family Services, some by other agencies - with some in desperate straits. One Burmese family with children went without food for two days recently because they didn't know how to use the bus system to get around the city, she said.

Many refugees need assistance not only with finding work, but learning how to get along in a new country, she said.

"America is like a big giant to them," Sayed said. "You can't bring somebody here and put them in their apartment and just go your own way."

She proposes a straightforward solution to the problem, saying the federal government and refugee agencies need to change their approach.

"They need to stop bringing people," Sayed said. "And they need to take responsibility for the people that are here."

Ivory said the agency is putting more of an emphasis on job development and training.

But she also emphasizes that refugees coming here are doing so because they were in a desperate situation in their home countries.

"For the vast majority of folks, this is the very last option," she said. "We are looking at quite literally the most vulnerable populations on the planet. ... They don't want their children to be blown up by a roadside bomb or ... put in a child military situation."

While Lutheran Family Services is cutting back, a second agency is looking at taking up some of the slack.

Church World Service , which has maintained an office in Durham, is looking at expanding there and in Greensboro, said Erol Kekic , national director of the agency's refugee program.

The group will start slowly but hopes to have five or six staffers here by the end of the year, he said.

Greensboro and surrounding areas have traditionally been good places for resettlement, he said. Housing is affordable, the climate is favorable and there generally are job opportunities.

Still, the current situation is difficult, Kekic said, and the actual number of refugees brought here could depend on the conditions.

Like Ivory, Kekic defends the decision to bring refugees to the United States, even in trying economic times.

"They're definitely better off than any situation they came from. There's no question about that at all," he said. "I haven't heard a situation, across the nation, where people are saying, 'I'm going to just turn around and go back because I was better off in a refugee camp.'"

Although Church World Service doesn't have the same experience locally as Lutheran Family Services, some who work with refugees say they believe the group will be effective.

"They have a huge amount of experience," said Mark Sills, the executive director of FaithAction International House . "I have a lot of confidence in their capacity to meet the need."

In the end, while the situation refugees face isn't necessarily easy here, there's really no going back.

The refugees served by the agencies come from places such as Iraq or Myanmar, where they may have been persecuted or feared for their lives.

They come here knowing that returning to their home country is probably impossible.

But that also means they are determined to succeed in their new country, those who work with them say.

They're willing to work tough jobs and do what it takes to get established.

"They're certainly survivors," Ivory said, "and they don't just give up."

Contact Jason Hardin at 373-7021 or at jason.hardin @news-record.com