Ar. President. recently a conference of more than 160 civic volunteer Welfare agency leaders from throughout the country met here in Washington to attempt to deal with the acute world refugee problem. The purpose of the conference was to program the U.S. role in the World Refugee Year. created by a United Nations resolution adopted on December 5. 1958. The World Refugee Year starts July 1. 1959. and ends July 30. 1460. The objectives of this special year will be: First. To focus international interest on the refugee problem. Second. To encourage financial contributions from governments. volunteer agencies. and the general public. and Third. To encourage further cooperation for permanent refugee solutions through voluntary repatriation. resettlement. or integration. on a humanitarian basis. In the past. the United States has played a commendable role in the refugee resettlement field. Since 1949. we have spent well over $1 billion on refugee problems. We recognize. of course. that the solution for the refugee problem is complex. Nevertheless. in view of its humanitarian aspects. as well as the fact that millions of persons who continue to be displaced will prolong. and perhaps even increase. economic and political problems that threaten world peace. this serious situation requires the thoughtful consideration of people everywhere. There are. of course. a vast number of people in many areas who need to be resettled and integrated into the economic life of the desired nations. A recent issue of the Economic World contained an article entitled "World Refugee Problem." The article delineated six specific areas of the world in which there is a concentration of an estimated 2.350.000 refugees. Because I believe that the seriousness of this situation continues to merit our attention. supplemented by constructive efforts to improve the outlook for these refugees. I ask unanimous consent to have the article printed in the Appendix of the RECORD.
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Refugee refugee refugees