Some have taken shelter in the homes of relatives and friends and need assistance action within the next six weeks. Others. numbering about 105.000 need immediate assistance ... to these must be added some 18.000 people in different regions that the ICRC has not yet been able to reach because of hostilities. Not all of these persons will be permanent refugees. however their immediate needs are acute. and the international organizations to which I referred at the beginning of my statement are doing their very best to meet these needs. These people and these relief agencies urgently require U.S. assistance and they will still need it after October 1. If the troubles in Lebanon continueand we all hope and pray that they will notthe needs of displaced persons will. of course. become even greater. In an effort to facilitate the meeting of these needs. I am proposing that the bill before us be amended by adding an additional $25 million to the refugee and migration assistance total recommended by the committee and that it be earmarked for Lebanon. Even with this addon. the refugee and migration assistance authority contained in it. the measure will still be some $25 million less than will actually be spent in fiscal year 1983. The suffering which the people of Lebanon are experiencing is tremendous. ongoing and is creating havoc in that country. The amendment I propose will. in a modest way. help to mitigate this suffering and I believe reinforce a view held by most Lebanese citizens that American involvement in their tragic country. in a volatile region in the Mideast. is driven by humanitarian considerations for the people of that country and that region.
Keywords matched
refugee refugees