Kurdish Human Rights Watch, Inc.

San Diego, California

KHRW San Diego Foundation and History

The Kurdish Human Rights Watch, Inc. (KHRW) San Diego, California is a non-profit humanitarian Mutual Assistance Association (MAA) Community Based Organization (CBO), established in 1996, dedicated to providing services to the refugee community in San Diego.

KHRW’s main objective is to help refugees and immigrants rely on their own resources to become self-sufficient, The well being of refugees is our primary concern. Our motto is "Give a man a fish, you will feed him for a day; teach him how to fish and you will feed him forever".  Training newly arrived refugees and immigrants in marketable skills is one of KHRW’s ultimate goal.

Refugees encounter many hardships during their first years of resettlement. Finding adequate employment, learning to speak English and family reunification are examples of some of the challenges that refugees face.

We are pleased to be of service to the community and to help refugees achieve self-sufficiency. In addition, KHRW in San Diego has the necessary cultural and linguistic expertise to offer employment and job placement. We have provided Refugee Employment Services to the community since 1996 through programs funded by San Diego County.  The target population in East County San Diego is composed of 85% Middle Eastern newcomers such as the Kurds, Arabs, Chaldeans and Shiites. We at KHRW are the only local grass-roots organization which speaks their languages and understands their cross-cultural needs.

For more information on KHRW / San Diego, Please contact us at:

Kurdish Human Rights Watch, (KHRW) / San Diego
1109 East Washington Ave                                                        
El Cajon, CA 92019
Tel:  (619) 447-9933
Fax:  (619) 447-9932
Email: khrwsd@khrw.org

KHRW is providing Vocational English as a Second Language classes (VESL) to the community. The majority of the students are homebound women and elderly. VESL is the newest form of English Training, studies have proved that VESL helps prepare individuals with limited to no English language skills for the Job Industry. The VESL classes are in cooperation with the Grossmont Community College. The classes are taught by Grossmont Community College instructors. The individual enrolled in the classes learn English, and other related to work environment such as time management (how important time is in the work place), dress for success (professional clothes are needed to get a professional job), resume preparation, hands on interview skills, etc. The Computer Training class will also prepare those refugees to obtain professional and secure jobs in the computer market, where the desire for professional and highly trained staff is always needed. The Citizenship class will teach the refugees how to apply and the citizenship Test to become a US citizen. The class is located at: 

1109 East Washington Ave                                                        
El Cajon, CA 92019

khrwsd@khrw.org

Daycare for the children of the VESL/ESL participants is provided free of charge on site to accommodate homebound women and their young children.

The Kurds have a strong community in San Diego County.  They number over 8,000 individuals most of whom reside in East County and the South Bay area. Most of the Kurds residing in San Diego arrived as refugees or family reunification cases.   The first wave of Kurdish refugees to reside in San Diego arrived around 1976 after the revolution against the Iraqi regime.  The Kurds are well organized in San Diego County where they have formed many community organizations to preserve and protect the Kurdish heritage. Kurdish Human Rights Watch, Inc. is the leading Kurdish Community Organization for it serves the best interest of the Kurdish Community and especially the newly arrived refugees and to assist them to become self-sufficient in their new homeland, the United States of America. For more information about the Kurdish Community please contact KHRW/San Diego by: Telephone (619) 477-9933 or by Email to: khrwsd@khrw.org

The Chaldeans have migrated from the country of Mesopotamia (Iraq).   The first Chaldeans arrived to the United States at around the end of the last century.  Now there are more than 125,000 Chaldeans in the US some of whom reside in San Diego, and make up a big number of this population. About 18,000 Chaldeans live in San Diego today, the newly arrived refugees that followed the Desert Storm War form the majority of this number. They have churches, businesses and entire neighborhoods in San Diego are inhabited by Chaldean families.  A close net community that helps each other and hire newcomers in their businesses are very successful.   For more information about the Chaldean Community please contact KHRW/San Diego by: Telephone (619) 447-9933 or by Email to: khrwsd@khrw.org

Shiite is the one of the two main Islamic sects, similar to Catholics, or Orthodox Christians.  In San Diego County there are more than 200 Iraqi Shiite families. Each family has at least 7 individuals per household. The Shiites arrived to the US from Al Rafha Camp, in Saudi Arabia in 1992.  Refugees are still coming from Al Rafha in family reunification cases. So far they have been seeking employment services that KHRW offers.  The Imam Ali Ibn Talib Center (Mosque) for the Shiite Iraqi community is the main meeting and prayer place for the Shiites in San Diego. Ethnic cleansing and persecution of the Iraqi Shiite population in the Marsh Arabs is still ongoing.  For more information about the Shiite community in San Diego, California please contact KHRW/San Diego by: Telephone (619) 447-9933 or by Email to: khrwsd@khrw.org. For general information about the Shiites go to: www.assadiq.org

Kurdish Human Rights Watch has been providing Employment Services to the Middle Eastern Community in San Diego since it was established in 1996. The Employment Services Program includes job search, employment applications, job readiness, and resume preparation for job interviews. For more information about KHRW’s Employment Services Program, please call us at: (619) 447-9933 or Email us at khrwsd@khrw.org

KHRW/San Diego provides Interpretation and Translation services since 1996 for most Middle Eastern languages such as Kurdish, Arabic, Chaldean, Farsi, and Turkish.  For more information about KHRW’s Interpretation and Translation Services, please call us at: (619) 447-9933 or Email us at khrwsd@khrw.org

KHRW/San Diego has been providing Immigration Services to the community since 1996.  KHRW assists immigrants and refugees with their applications for Employment Authorization renewals, Green Card applications, Citizenship application and preparation, access and referrals for family reunification and Affidavits of Relationship (AOR) and Affidavit of Support (AOS), etc. For more information about KHRW’s Immigration Services, please call us at: (619) 447-9933 or Email us at khrwsd@khrw.org