There are a number of places where you can look for refugee assistance and information. Some of the links below will certainly be more appropriate to specific situations than others. If you have any additional information or links to resources, don’t hesitate to contact us!

An interesting type of donation was recently received from a creator of cz rings +, also known as Cubic Zirconia rings. For those not familiar with Cubic Zirconia, it is a synthetically produced gem that is highly comparable to diamonds in looks, but costs far less for the consumer. In addition, there is none of the controversy or blood shed associated with some “conflict diamond” suppliers in Africa. Keep in mind that a major break in the blood diamond trade occurred in 2003 when Kimberley Process Certification Scheme introduced the requirement that all participants must certify their diamonds were conflict free. However with so much money at stake it’s still possible that some participants may not be totally honest about where they get their rough diamonds. As a consumer, with zirconia gemstones, you will get a stunning gem and no bad karma. We welcome the help of this cubic zirconia supplier and his store to our cause. They generously donated 5% of their sales of cubic zirconia rings, necklaces, pendants for the month of February and will continue to do so for the next five years. Zirconia gemstones may not be an actual diamond, but having a diamond-like piece of jewelry whose luster is so similar to a diamond that one could definitely mistake it for a diamond is now possible with cubic zirconia jewelry pieces.

Amnesty International (http://www.amnesty.org/) – international human rights organization, essential for action on human rights abuses

American Refugee Committee (http://www.arcrelief.org/) – international, nonprofit, and nonsectarian, providing assistance and training for refugees

CARE (http://www.care.org/) – “fighting poverty” with a special focus on women

European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) (http://www.ecre.org/) – European network of refugee-assisting non-governmental organizations

Human Rights Watch (http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/refugees) – international human rights organization

International Committee of the Red Cross (IFRC) (http://www.icrc.org/) – Nobel Prize-winning international organization for victims of war, including refugees

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (http://www.ifrc.org/) – related to IFRC, focusing on large-scale emergency assistance and relief

International Medical Corps< (http://www.imcworldwide.org/index.shtml) - health care relief agency, "transition from relief to self-reliance" International Organization for Migration (http://www.iom.ch/) - "humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people" International Rescue Committee (IRC) (http://www.theirc.org/) - relief and resettlement, operating in over 40 countries The Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford (http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/) - academic site with in-depth, up-to-date refugee resources Refugee Council Online (http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/) - the largest UK-based organization dedicated to asylum-seekers and refugees Refugee Action (http://www.refugee-action.org.uk/) - UK-based independent national charity organization for refugees Refugee Camp (http://www.refugeecamp.org/home) - refugee-focused division of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières Refugees International (http://www.refintl.org/) - assisting displaced people, especially women and children UNICEF (http://www.unicef.org/) - United Nations' humanitarian assistance to children and mothers in developing countries United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home) - see dedicated page on this site U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) - refugee advocacy and resettlement U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/) - funds and coordinates a network of resettlement organizations (after delivery by PRM, see below) U.S.Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) (http://www.state.gov/g/prm/) - administers the U. S. Refugee Admissions Program Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children (http://www.womenscommission.org/)