Speech #960221879

President. as concerns of national security lead us to focus increasing attention upon African countries bordering the Indian Ocean. a human tragedy is developing in this region which we cannot allow to go unnoticed or unaddressed. After years of regional war. Somalia now faces a refugee crisis likely to parallel that of Southeast Asia in the brutal human costs of sickness and starvation. The State Department estimates that over 3.500 people91 percent of whom are women and childrenare presently entering Somalia every day from southern and eastern Ethiopia. Many are living in refugee camps with populations over 40.000. Others have fled to the towns. and still others have tried to eke out a nomadic existence in the Somali interior. In all. at current rates of entry. this country of 4 million will have an additional population of well over 1 million refugees by the end of 1980. The problems of Somalias refugees are those which we have come to know in other similar tragedies around the world. The sudden. massive influx of peoplecoupled with the beginnings of a drought throughout Somalia and eastern Africamakes starvation the most pressing danger. Lack of safe drinking water and the growing incidence of infectious diseases pose additional threats to the refugees survival. particularly to the children. It is fortunate that one problem which the refugees do not have is with the Somali Government itself. Unlike Southeast Asia. where some unwilling host governments literally pushed refugees back across borders or out into the sea. the Somali Government has sought to accommodate refugees to the greatest extent possible. Since many of these refugees are ethnic Somalis. the Government has contributed up to $15 million for their careeven though Somalia has serious problems of growing debt and dwindling reserves of foreign exchange. The Somali Government has also welcomed outside assistance for refugees. Accordingly. the United Nations has recently called for $120 million from the international community for Somalia. in addition to the relief programs already underway. Despite the scope of the problem and the scale of requested relief. the plight of Somalias refugees has received remarkably little publicity. Other crises around the world have shifted attention away from internal problems developing in the Horn of Africa. Perhaps it is also a telling sign of the times that after floods of refugees have become so much a present reality in so many areas of the world. new instances of massive suffering are no longer headline news. Yet for the hundreds of thousands now crowding into Somalia. the situation is desperate. Unless more can be done. many will die. In the United States. we can do more. Though the refugees face shortages on every front. I would like to concentrate here on efforts the United States can make to supply urgently needed food relief. The United States has already shipped some food and supplies to the Somali refugee camps. but the Agency for International Development estimates that at least 47.000 tons of grain. worth about $12 million. will be required by early summer. American farmers are more than able to supply the needed food. This is a time of record harvests for the United Statesand of constricted markets abroad in the wake of the Soviet grain embargo. In announcing its decision to cut grain shipments to the Soviet Union. the administration noted that one positive result of this move would be the availability of greatly expanded food resources for constructive diplomacy. With its escalating refugee population and a growing significance for U.S. strategic considerations in the Indian Ocean. Somalia presents an especially strong case for the food aid which the United States is now able to send abroad. I would urge my colleagues in both the Senate and the House to make the securing of additional food aid for Somalia a top priority.