Mr. Speaker. I would like to insert my Foreign Affairs newsletter for May Over thirteen million people worldwidemore than double the population of Indianaare now refugees. persons who have fled their countries because of persecution. war. violence. or natural disaster. This population has tripled in the past decade. During 1988 alone. at least 750.000 Africans sought sanctuary in neighboring countries. 50.000 Vietnamese took to boats to seek asylum. and 100.000 Kurds fled Iraq. Poor and powerless. displaced people must depend on others for their two major needs: temporary asylum and a permanent solution to their homelessness. But the refugee population Is increasing at such a rate that the International community is hardpressed to find the resources to meet these needs. Most refugees live in camps In Third World asylum countries. Here the United Nations. individual governments. and voluntary agencies struggle to provide security. food. shelter. and medical attention to frightened and hungry people. Resources are not always equal to the job and conditions in the often overcrowded and demoralized camps are grim. The United States has always been a leader in providing assistance to displaced people. Given recent budgetary pressures. however. we are less generous today than we once were. Although the U.S. contributed about $231 million for refugee assistance last year. making us the worlds largest donor. we are only in 9th place in terms of per capita contributions. We were in 5th place as recently as 1985. The leading per capita donor.
Keywords matched
seek asylum refugee refugees