Mr. Chairman. first of all. I wish to extend very hearty congratulations to the gentlewoman from New York . and the gentleman from New York for this piece of legislation. because the need for an equitable and comprehensive refugee policy for the United States is widely accepted. H.R. 2816. the Refugee Act of 1979. accomplishes this goal. Since World War II. refugees have entered the United States under a variety of legislative and administrative refugee programs. As crises arose. each refugee program was established to accommodate a different group of East Europeans fleeing Communist regimes to the recent admission of refugees from Southeast Asia. This bill establishes a coherent U.S. refugee policy by creating a systematic and flexible procedure for the admission and resettlement of refugees. One of the most significant contributions toward this effort is the new definitiop of the term "refugee." H.R. 2816 defines a "refugee" asAny person who is outside ... (his or her) country ... who is unable or unwilling to return to ... that country because of persecution or a wellfounded fear of persecution on account of race. religion. nationality. membership in a particular social group or political opinion. This redefinition eliminates the current geographical and ideological restrictions which limit the designation of refugee status to persons fleeing Communist or Middle Eastern countries and bring U.S. law into conformity with the internationally accepted definition of the term "refugee" as articulated by the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention and the protocol which was ratified by the United States in 1968. I would hope that this new definition would also encourage both the State Department and the Immigration and Naturalization Service to provide additional consulates. which will accept refugee applications. It is significant that applications for refugee status abroad can only be made in Austria. Belgium. France.
Keywords matched
Immigration Refugee Naturalization refugees refugee