Mr. Chairman. I rise in support of the $40 million in funding for the migration and refugee account which that amendment would add plus $3 million for the Italian earthquake. Mr. Chairman. the refugee has become a common figure in our daily livesand his plight has become a tragedy we are all familiar with. The absence of concern with both human rights and basic human needs by various world leaders has resulted in the mass movement of peoples. It is a migration which has altered the worlds demographic patterns. creating previously unaddressed problems for policymakers and economists. It is a migration whose solutions call for a critical understanding of the refugees background and a reconciliation of his history with his present needs. Whether we have witnessed Vietnams boat people on nightly newscasts or been haunted by the skeletal figures fleeing from nations such as Cambodia. Somalia. and Afghanistan. we have at least become aware of the problems facing the refugee. We also know that his plight does not end once he escapes his homelandin fact. it has only just begun. Once in the refugee camp he faces persecution. hunger. the ravages of disease. He may be separated from family and friends further weakening his resolve to start a new life. He may be stripped of all hope as he begins the seemingly endless processing associated with transport and resettlement.
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refugee refugees