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As an advocate for refugees for four decades and a vice-president of the International Rescue Committee, Sheppie Abramowitz is keenly aware of the tribulations refugees face. Abramowitz began her career during the Vietnam era while she was a foreign service spouse doing volunteer work in Cambodian refugee camps in Thailand, where her husband, Morton Abramowitz was the LI.S. Ambassador
"This is a passion for both of us," says Abramowitz of herself and her husband, who retired from the State Department but who is also an advocate for refugee issues. The plight of refugees engulfed them in Thailand and in Turkey, where her husband served as ambassador during the Kurd refugee crisis earlier this decade. Even before Mrs. Abramowitz faced the suffering of Cambodians and Kurds, her mother Ida Glass, had served as a kind of role model. Glass worked for refugees during World War II, housing German Jewish families in her home.
Colleagues say a combination of unique qualities and experience arm Abramowitz with an instinctive knowledge of how to work the system for the good of needy refugees. With the help of a rolodex thick with the phone numbers of diplomats, administrative workers, high officials and relief organization contacts, Abramowitz champions the cause of refugees by cutting through the maze of government regulations. She is counted among a handful of officials who truly understand refugee issues at the field level and who can parlay that knowledge into helping effect policy.
MW posed a number of questions to Mrs. Abramowitz regarding the current plight of Kosovo and other refugees. Her responses follow. MW: Tell us about your role at IRC and what you believe are some of the most critical needs facing Kosovo refugees?
S.A.: My role in Washington is to make sure the resources are available to meet critical needs as described by our field staff. In Kosovo these include physical and food security, shelter, sanitation and water projects, and community medical assistance. Many homes have been destroyed or badly damaged, and land mines, booby traps, and unexploded bombs and shells will remain major problems as they are spread throughout the province. Over the long term, reconstruction needs include...