Mr. President. last month the 1981 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for the second time to the United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Refugees. The refugee agency was cited for its work in aiding the tens of millions of homeless and displaced people scattered all over the globe. The agency won its first award in 1956 for its work in resettling the millions of Europeans driven from their homelands during the Second World War. Today. the major work of the United Nations organization is carried out in Africa and Asia where the greatest numbers of refugees exist. According to the Washington Post. the Office of High Commissioner for Refugees provided critical aid to the many Ugandan refugees and since 1975 has resettled more than a million boat people from Vietnam. Laos. and Cambodia Of these refugees. perhaps the most desperate of all are those who were threatened by genocide in their home countries. Specifically. I am referring to those refugees who fled the genocide campaigns of Pol Pot and Idi Amin. Although these people escaped death in their homelands. the dislocation and degradation they are forced to suffer make them very real victims of genocide. In announcing the award the Nobel Committee commended the United Nations refugee organization for its success in extending its hand of compassion. The Nobel Committee also noted thatStill more important in the long run is the work of insuring that people are not compelled to save their lives by escaping from their native land with no prospect of ever returning. I agree. It is critical that we address the refugee problem at its source. One source. Mr.
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