Speech #1000058712

Hiroko Sherwin. and Donald Saunders. I have served as a vice president of the International Rescue Committee. and I remain a member of its board of directorsit is one of my proudest affiliations. For over a half a century the IRC has been in the lead of those calling attention to the needs of refugees and seeking practical. humane solutions to their plight. Its original chairman was the esteemed theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. and its chairman for most of its existence has been Leo Cherne. whose leadership on behalf of refugees has been deservedly recognized and honored. The citizens commission mission to Thailand took place in the period May 29June 4. 1987. It was convened and carried out with urgency to deal with three major concerns: First. the vital need to preserve first asylum. in Thailand and other countries of Southeast Asia. for refugees who continue to flee Vietnam. Laos. and Cambodia. Second. the need to guarantee basic protection to refugees in countries of first asylum. and Third. the need to ensure the continuation of reliable. consistent. fair and compassionate refugee resettlement policies by countries of final resettlement. The commission focused its attention on the plight of the 260.000 Cambodians living in uncertain and hazardous conditions on the ThaiCambodian border. as well as the 22.000 Khmer refugees in Khao I Dang. It calls for improved education programs for Khmer children on the border as part of a series of actions needed to improve conditions for this especially vulnerable population. It supports the recommendations of the Indochinese Refugee Panel headed by former Iowa Gov. Bob Ray that further review is imperative for the socalled rejected refugees at Khoa I Dangthe camp known to the world from the final scenes of the Academy Awardwinning film. "The Killing Fields." The commission counsels against schemes to try to return refugees to Vietnam. including those who survived the hazardous land passage across Cambodia as well as those who continue to arrive by sea. It also calls for the immediate resumption of the Orderly Departure Program [ODPJ from Vietnam as a necessary step to give Vietnamese an alternative to escape by unsafe boats with the terrible risk of pirate attacks. The commission calls attention to the plight of the Lao refugees. expressing particular concern about reports of pushbacks and involuntary repatriation of Highland Laothe Hmong so long associated with United States efforts in the region. For all these groups the citizens committee counsels improved protection. enhanced education. health. and mental health programs. and a continuing commitment for resettlement by the United States and other countries. The report is short and to the point. It is worth a careful reading as a blueprint for what needs to be done for Indochinese who continue to flee as refugees. I ask that the text of the report. along with a letter to me from Robert DeVecchi. be printed in the RECORD.