Speech #980101238

There must be a commitment to improving the conditions of the displaced persons as part of the overall strategy for economic recovery in El Salvador. While some military assistance is obviously necessary. a complementary program of humanitarian aid is also needed to help El Salvador provide basic assistance and protection to its citizens displaced by the conflict and violence. 3. Continued support for refugees in Honduras.-After a difficult beginning. the UNHCR has established an effective program to assist and protect a growing numbber of Salvadoran. Guatemalan and Nicaraguan refugees in Honduras. Although some problems remain in assuring protection for Salvadoran refugees. the dark days of the La Virtud situation are behind us and an effective working relationship has been established between officers of the UNHCR and the Honduran civilian and military authorities. Camp conditions in Mesa Grande. where some 10.000 Salvadorans are settled. are good by international standards. Although there is not enough land to allow them to become selfsufficient. even if the Honduran government permitted them to farm it (which they do not. except under strict controls). the camp is nonetheless relatively spacious. the programs of support adequate. and education. handicraft and other programs being undertaken by the voluntary agencies are imaginative. In fact. in the near term. proposals to close or transfer substantial portions of this camp should be discouraged. The refugees do not want to move at this time. and such a moveeven with selfsufficiency as its goalwould be a questionable use of scarce international resources. given the good conditions achieved at Mesa Grande at some considerable cost and effort. This is particularly the case if the companion Salvadoran camp at Colomoncagua is moved from the border for security reasons. or if the refugee flow from Nicaragua increases. In general. refugee conditions in Honduras are stable. and the attitude of the government in accepting its status as a country of first asylum should be commended. Even if the numbers of new arrivals were to increase in the future. an excellent infrastructure of personnel and programs has been established under UNHCR auspices and it should be able to handle such an influx easily. The longerterm problem of reaching a durable solution for the refugees in Honduras. especially for the Salvadorans who cannot stay forever. remains problematic. In the meantime. however. the program of assistance and protection is more than satisfactory and it deserves the strong support of the United States. 4. Extended Voluntary Departure for Salvadorans in the United States.-It is estimated today that there are up to 500.000 Salvadorans in the United States in illegal immigration status. Some United States groups have called for extended voluntary departure status for these people until the conflict in El Salvador subsides. However. this status has not been granted. the rationale being that there is no evidence of persecution of those who are sent back. that there are other countries of first asylum available. and that most Salvadorans here in the United States are economic migrants without valid claims to persecution in El Salvador. Extensive efforts have been made by many private and religious groups to determine the fate of Salvadorans returning from the United States. and no evidence has been found to document that they are harmed. . There are areas of the country. particularly in the city of San Salvador and in the western provinces. where the conflict and violence is minimal. There are displaced person camps throughout the country where food and medical assistance is available and international personnel are present. And the Honduran government has indicated its willingness to accept all refugees who enter Honduras from El Salvador. The 300 to 350 Salvadorans who are currently being returned by the United States to El Salvador each month 2 are subject to the same violence every resident of that country faces. but there is clear evidence that there is no governmentally sanctioned program to target or harass returning Salvadorans simply because they have been in the United States. However. no official agency has conducted a followup study on individual Salvadorans returned by the United States. Private. nongovernmental groups cannot. without great difficulty. undertake such an assessment on their own. without the cooperation of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service and the United States Embassy. This lack of documentation has resulted in broad support for a field study to determine. to the extent possible given conditions in El Salvador. the fate of these Salvadorans who are deported or who are returning voluntarily after being apprehended by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. This study should be sponsored by the United States. Such a study could be done on a random sample basis over a period of several months. and implemented by the U.S.