Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration Ellen Sauerbrey moderated a panel discussion on the U.S. refugee program. Former refugees from various regions related their first-hand accounts of the diverse opportunities and challenges refugees resettled in the United States through the program. The event was held on World Refugee Day.

Former refugees on the panel were: Jalil Aswadi, scholarship student from Afghanistan, St. Anne’s-Belfield School, Charlottesville, Va.; John Dau, a Sudanese “Lost Boy” featured in the documentary God Grew Tired of Us; Yeong Sook Kim, food services employee from North Korea, Farmington Country Club, Charlottesville, Va.; Bienvenu Rwagasore, trained civil engineer from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Facilities Management Department, University of Virginia; Dr. Wai Wai, lab technician from Burma, University of Virginia Medical Center.