Malaysia. Singapore. Indonesia. the Philippines. and Hong Kong. have offered safe haven to the Indochinese refugees with the understanding that the international community would provide for their care and would seek to resettle the refugees outside the region. Thailand alone hosts approximately 300.000 people who have fled persecution in their own country. There are clear signs that these firstasylum countries. who have distinguished themselves in their humanitarian response to the plight of the Indochinese refugees. are inceasingly less willing to bear the burden. These countries have borne tremendous burdenssocial. economic. and politicalto provide temporary asylum to the refugees. For example. when I visited the refugees camps in Thailand last December. I saw the trucks which transport huge tanks of fresh water to the camps. On their way. they rumble through tiny Thai villages that do not have enough water for themselves. I ask my colleagues. who among you would want to face constituents in a similar situation? This amendment provides a small amount of financial assistance for Thai villages affected by Indochinese refugee camps. assistance that is sorely needed. The countries of Southeast Asia watch as the worlds attention is diverted to new horrors and tales of human tragedy in other parts of the world. They find the international community less and less willing to accept the Indochinese refugees languishing in their camps. We can all agree that much remains to be done with respect to protecting and resettling or repatriating the Indochinese refugees. The least we can do is assure that the funding needed to continue our efforts is available. I am pleased to say that such funding was included in this bill at my request during the Foreign Relations Committees consideration. We must also make certain that there are no impediments to the protection and resettlement or repatriation of these refugees. I believe my colleagues amendment does much to further this objective and I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.
Keywords matched
refugee refugees