"GLOBAL ISSUES, LEADERSHIP CHOICES":

Accepting refugees for resettlement continues to be a political hot potato for leaders throughout the world, not just in the U.S. and Europe but also in Australia, Canada, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and elsewhere. An understanding about who the refugees are, though, seems to lag far behind the rhetoric. Give it a try: who are the refugees coming to the U.S.? Specifically, what are the top 10 native languages spoken by refugees who have come to the U.S. over the last 10 years? Submit your guesses in the comments section. I'll post the answers, based on data collected by the government agency responsible for refugee resettlement, later today.  (Answers posted below .)

If these were your answers, you were right, according to data collected by the State Department's Refugee Processing Center.  (The information about where these languages are spoken is mine.)

Top 10 Native Languages Spoken by Refugees Settled in the US, FY2008-FY2017
 
1. Arabic -- spoken primarily in the Middle East and North Africa, including Sudan (132,450)
2. Nepali -- spoken primarily in Nepal and Bhutan (91,947)
3. Somali -- spoken primarily in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya (54,247)
4. Sgaw Karen -- spoken primarily in Burma/Myanmar (43,618)
5. Spanish -- spoken primarily in Latin America (31.836)
6. Kiswahili -- spoken primarily in the eastern parts of the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania (18,679)
7. Chaldean -- spoken primarily by Chaldean Christians in Iraq, Iran, Turkey (16,802)
8. Burmese -- spoken primarily in Burma/Myanmar (15,817)
9. Armenia -- spoken primarily in Armenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran (15,102)
10. Farsi, Western -- spoken primarily in Iran (12,788)
 
http://www.wrapsnet.org/admissions-and-arrivals/