Speech #970030414

Mr. Speaker. as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Task Force on Haitian Refugees. I thought it was important for the Members of the House to receive a clarification regarding the position of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the question of Haitian nationals seeking asylum in the United States. Over the past 2 years. there has been a great deal of debate about whether Haitians are "economic" or "political" refugees. The Congressional Black Caucus holds the view that Haitians are true. political refugees. The caucus believes that the term "economic refugee" was coined by the previous administration to avoid this countrys obligations as a country of first asylum and because of racist presumptions about Haitians. There was a deliberate attempt to portray the UNHCR as supportive of the administrations viewpoint. In an effort to resolve these ambiguities. I have included copies of correspondence between Ira Gollobin. attorney for the Haitian Refugee Center. and UNHCR Regional Representative Klaus Feldmann. This correspondence clearly indicates that UNHCR has not concluded that Haitians seeking asylum are economic refugees.