Mr. President. the international community is faced today with the challenge of an unprecedented movement of refugees--from Indochina to the Soviet Union to Liberia. In fact. the number of refugees around the world has doubled in recent years. while the resources which we contribute to their care has diminished. This is a time which invites vision and insight. and a debate is now occurring within the international community as to how to respond to existing demands and future trends. In that connection. I commend to my colleagues a recent speech by Ambassador Princeton Lyman. Director of the State Departments Bureau for Refugee Programs. He provides an extraordinarily thoughtful review of the refugee challenges we face at the beginning of this decade. Unfortunately. the need to assist refugees and other migrants has not diminished along with the cold war. As Ambassador Lyman states. "the sources of persecution. and the nuances of the problems around them. will. however. change and challenge us all." And he goes on to outline some of the refugee and migration issues which lie ahead. And speaking before a conference of Church World Service. chaired by its director. Dale de Haan. Ambassador Lyman also acknowledged the important role of Americas voluntary agencies in our national program to assist and resettle refugees. In addressing his audience of voluntary agency representatives. he notes that Those of us in government have an important role to play. We must develop proposals. ceilings. and budgets which determine just how many and from what countries refugees can come to the United States. But it is you and your affiliatesyour volunteers and many families which become involvedwhich make the program concrete and make it successful. We deal with numbers and abstractions. you deal with the people involved. You make each refugee welcome. you give them their start. their first real taste of America. You give the program its heart. Mr.
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Refugee refugee migrants refugees