Refugee Resettlement Office Returning to Missoula

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — An agency that helps resettle refugees plans to re-open an office in western Montana.

The International Rescue Committee said Friday that it had permission from the U.S. State Department to open an office in Missoula. It helped settle Hmong refugees in Missoula from 1979-1991.

The IRC anticipates it could settle about 100 people fleeing violence and persecution in its first year of operation.

Demonstrations in protest of bringing refugees from the Middle East into Montana have been held in several towns in western Montana. Those opposed questioned the vetting process and fear the refugees could be a national security threat. Some of the protests were met with counter-protests.

The IRC says the refugees will have undergone two to three years of intensive vetting.

Missoula County commissioners supported the re-settlement while commissioners in Flathead and Ravalli counties were opposed.