Speech #1000102079

DC. DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: Members of the Committee on the Judiciary have now consulted with your representatives on the proposed refugee admissions for fiscal year 1988. as required by Section 207 of The Refugee Act of 1980. We hereby concur in your recommendation. with the following recommendations and requirements. As you know. this Committee has over the years shared your commitment. and that of our Nation. in our efforts to assist refugees around the worldespecially those needing emergency protection and resettlement opportunities. Our country can be proud of its leadership in support of international programs for refugees. which demonstrates far better than words our Nations commitment to basic human rights. We accept your assessment that conditions in the field justify maintaining refugee admissions at about the same level as last year. However. as you know. the Committees view last yearboth the majority and minoritywas that there were strong reservations over these levels of admissions. Yet the proposed numbers for this year have been increased. even as concerns over the policy directions of our refugee program have deepenedparticularly in Southeast Asia. Regrettably. we believe that if some of the Committees policy recommendations of past yearsespecially the need to pursue options other than just third country resettlement for Indochinese refugeeshad seriously been approached. there might not be the need today for high levels of refugee admissions. For the sake of the refugees we seek to assist. we must give more than lip service to the often quoted admonition that third country resettlement is the least preferred durable solution. compared to repatriation and local settlement. As was noted during the Committees consultations last year. we had hoped that. in addition to appropriate resettlement. "new initiatives will be developed to deal with the continuing flow of Southeastern Asian refugeesespecially voluntary repatriation and local settlement . . ." Yet. to date. no such "new initiatives" have seriously been undertaken. much less realized in Southeast Asia. For example. there has not even been an official response by your Administration to the very modest initiatives in these areas made by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in his "Informal Paper to the Indochinese Consultation Group" last As the Committee has urged previously. there is need for new policy initiatives on many different fronts in Southeast Asia. Otherwise we are likely to foreclose permanently those options which would permit Indochinese refugees to remain humanely within their native Southeast Asian countries. As a result. we take this opportunity to make the following recommendations. as well as to stipulate some additional consultation requirements during the coming year: 1. While our commitment to work in partnership with Southeast Asian governments continues. we are nonetheless at a critical juncture in our programs in the region. we therefore request that only half of the 29.500 numbers proposed for the regional ceiling on "first asylum refugees" in Southeast Asiathat is. 14.750shall be allocated before further midyear consultations with the Committee. We make this stipulation for the following reasons: (A) We commend you and your Administration for helping to break the diplomatic logjam that has threatened the continuation of the Orderly Departure Program for Vietnam. This program is clearly the option we must pursue in shifting a refugee flow into a family reunification programwhile providing for the safe departure of political prisoners. Amerasian children. and others from Vietnam. The new procedures now agreed upon by the United States and Vietnam for processing ODP cases will certainly increase the numbers needed for the programnumbers that are clearly for those persons of "special humanitarian concern" to the United States. It is our view that some of the "first asylum" numbers in the current allocation proposal should be shifted to the ODP program. (B) The Committee is also doubtful. based upon our latest field reports. that the 29.500 "ceiling" requested for "first asylum" cases in Southeast Asia is justified without it becoming a "quota." for which pressures then build to fill. (C) Of particular concern is that the proposed ceiling cannot be reached without an extremely large increase in the resettlement of Hmong Highland Lao refugees. The Committee believes that before such a largescale resettlement program is instituted for the Hmong that the full implications of such a policy be reviewed by the Congressincluding its humanitarian implications. increased state and local program costs and. most importantly. whether this option is in the best interests of the Hmong themselves. If it is determined to be in the best interests of the Hmong to be resettled in third countries. then the programs at our refugee processing centers should be reviewed to ensure that the English language and cultural orientation curricula are suitable for the special needs of this ethnic group. The Committee requests that it be notified before more than 1.000 Hmong refugees are processed during the coming year. other than those with immediate family reunification or other special ties. (D) Finally. based upon this years requirements. additional numbers will likely be needed for Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. as well as for the Near East and South Asia. Numbers not needed for Southeast Asia may need to be programmed to meet additional needs in these areas by midyear. 2. The Committee remains concerned over refugee assistance and protection needs among the Khmer along the ThaiCambodian border. Recommendations have been made over the past years for improving conditions and providing better protection for these refugees by members of this Committee. by your Administration and officers in the field. and by the United Nations Border Relief Operation. But. to date. they have largely been ignored by the responsible authorities of the Royal Thai Government. We urge strong diplomatic intervention in support of the recent recommendations of UNBRO regarding conditions at Site 2. We further recommend: (A) That no resettlement of refugees from Thailand be undertaken this year until the Royal Thai Government fulfills its pledge to facilitate the departure of relatives of United States citizens now mixed with refugees in several Khmer refugee camps. It is impossible to justify to the American people the movement of refugees from Thailand. at the Thais request. when we cannot secure the departure of the immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and other current and approved immigration visa cases. (B) Additional U.S. resources should be earmarked for UNBROs proposals to upgrade and move part of the camp at Site 2 and for assistance to Thailand in providing regular. welltrained and disciplined troops to protect the refugees along the border. 3. The Committee welcomes your Administrations initiative regarding the processing of nonCuban refugees from Latin America. While recognizing that local settlement or repatriation are the preferred options. there remain resettlement needs among refugees from several nations. particularly in Central America. 4. We support the numbers allocated for refugees from Africa. and commend efforts to assure that those refugees with close ties to the United States are afforded the opportunity to resettle here. There are urgent and growing refugee assistance needs in Southern Africa. and the Committee strongly encourages efforts to address them in the days ahead. In conclusion. we appreciate this opportunity to raise these issues with you. which we have done in some detail. since the regularly scheduled oversight hearings of the Committee have necessarily been postponed because of the hearings on the nomination of Judge Robert Bork. Obviously. there are other refugee programming and policy issues which members of the Committee will like to raise with your representatives during the public hearings we will schedule later next month. However. we did want to conclude the formal consultations. as statutorily required by The Refugee Act. before October 1st. Again. we concur in the refugee admissions ceiling you have proposed. provided the Committee has an opportunity to review. midyear. the allocation of those numbers in light of changing refugee needs in the field and the requirements we have outlined for new policy initiatives. particularly in Southeast Asia. Many thanks for your consideration. and best wishes. Sincerely.