Speech #990003006

I think that we. in the United States. have a responsibility not to deport these Salvadorans. Before I concluded my remarks. I would like to briefly discuss a developing refugee situation which has been all but ignored by the Congress. the executive branch. the media. and the church community. The plight of the Salvadorans has been widely reported and extensively investigated by a wide range of organizations. To a somewhat lesser extent. the same can be said of the many displaced Guatemalan refugees now in this country and in Mexico. Strangely enough. there seems to be a conspiracy of silence associated with the many thousands of Nicaraguan refugees now in Costa Rica. Honduras. the United States. and Mexico. Although it is impossible to determine the exact number of displaced Nicaraguans in this country. the Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates that there are more than 50.000 in this country. The number of Nicaraguan refugees scattered throughout the countries of Central America has not been definitively determined. The U.S. High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR] maintains camps both in Honduras and Costa Rica. Approximately 20.000 Nicaraguans now live in UNHCR camps north of the Rio Coco in Honduras. Perhaps as many as 10.000 other Nicaraguans live in various camps maintained by other organizations in Honduras. In Costa Rica. at least 4.000 Nicaraguans live in UNHCR camps. Various sources offer much higher figures for the number of Nicaraguans now living in exile in Costa Rica. As the Nicaraguan civil war intensifies and as larger and larger numbers of Nicaraguans flee Sandinista repression. the burden of refugees upon UNHCR will grow. Curiously. many of the relief organizations which have assisted Salvadoran refugees have not been quite so willing to aid the Nicaraguans. I would hope that they would see this refugee situation as one requiring humanitarian assistance rather than partisan political posturing. Senator DECONCINI Ias assured me that the question of granting extended voluntary departure status for displaced Nicaraguans will be given full consideration when hearings are held on this legislation. Mr.