Charity Justin Baringwa waited four years for the phone call she received last month.
She and Edward Gadi Michael were married in Sudan in 1997. But one year later they were separated when war forced them to leave their home country.
Michael arrived in Egypt; Baringwa in Syria.
Two years later, Michael came to Fargo as a refugee. Baringwa, 29, finally joined him a little over a week ago.
"I'm so happy," Baringwa said. "I've waited a long time to see my husband."
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Baringwa is one of four new refugee families -- the other three are from Bosnia -- that arrived in North Dakota during recent days. It's the largest group since President Bush halted immigration into the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks.
But their appearance doesn't mean the flow of refugees is back to normal. Staff who work with refugee resettlement still don't know when it will.
None of the recent arrivals in Fargo was among the thousands left stranded when doors to the United States were closed. Their arrival dates were scheduled after borders were reopened.
"We have some who were assured before Sept. 11 and they're not here yet," said Kathy Thoreson, director of the refugee resettlement program at Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota. "We have no idea when they'll come."
The Center for New Americans in Fargo has been alerted of only one more arrival in May. So far all of the cases have family ties to the area.
The lack of refugees isn't only a concern for the Center for New Americans, which relies on arrivals for a significant source of its funding.
So far, 10,000 refugees have arrived since Bush reopened the doors in late November, according to the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. The president had committed to allowing 70,000 to enter.
The Refugee Council USA, a national coalition of agencies that serve refugees, soon will begin a campaign pressing for admission of the full 70,000.
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The Center for New Americans will be one of the local agencies making that point.
"We're prepared to handle an ongoing number of refugees throughout the rest of the year," Thoreson said. "It's been good for us that there's been a break, but we're ready."
The Center for New Americans closed its door to refugees two months before the nation did because of staff turnover and lack of organization.
But with half the staff it had a year ago, the center is more than ready for what could be a fast influx of refugee families, staff said.
The agency could see as many as 200 applicants between now and Sept. 30, said Sheila McLeod, resettlement director at LSS. But it's unlikely that number will be reached, she said.
To prepare for that number, the center has hired a couple of new employees, including one Afghani woman.
Her appearance at the agency doesn't mean Afghani refugees will be resettled in Fargo, McLeod said. But it means the opportunity is there.
"We need to have the language capabilities and cultural sensibilities before we can accept people from a certain group," she said. "We don't know that we'll get any, but we know they could come."
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Most of the Afghani refugees who have entered the United States are primarily women and children at risk, McLeod said.
As for Baringwa and Michael, they're happy to be together, Michael said.
When asked if it's like being a newlywed again, they both just smiled.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Erin Hemme Froslie at (701) 241-5534
