Speech #1020031251

Department of State. There are a number of significant provisions in this legislation. and I should like to take this opportunity to highlight some of them. H.R. 1415 greatly enhances the priority our Nation assigns to refugee assistance worldwide. authorizlng $600 million for fiscal year 1992 and $650 million for fiscal year 1993 for migration and refugee assistance. an increase of $109.443 million above the Presidents 1992 request. According to the Department of State. the size of the worldwide refugee problem nearly doubled during the 1980s. growing from 8 million in 1980 to over 15 million by the end of 1989. The beginning of the 1990s has only seen this crisis deepen. as appalling human rights developments In Iraq. Somalia. and Cambodia have caused the global refugee population to swell. Armed conflict in Afghanistan. El Salvador. Mozambique. Liberia. Somalia. the Sudan. and elsewhere continues to generate the majority of the worlds refugees. Estimates are that there are now over 18 million refugees worldwide. Within the overall $600 million frr assistance in 1992. H.R. 1415 recommends $60 million for refugee aid in East Asia. noting the alarming developments in Cambodia and the plight of Cambodian refugees on the ThaiCambodian border. The bill also makes special note of the plight of displaced Burmese and Burmese refugees in Thailand. and urges the administration to enhance their efforts to protect those Burmese in Thailand who cannot return to their nation for fear of persecution. To assist Jewish refugees. the bill authorizes $75 million for the resettlement of Soviet and other refugees in Israel. in recognition of the daunting task facing that nation as it absorbs hundreds of thousands of new immigrants. In 1990. more than 180.000 Soviet Jewish men. women. and children went to live in Israel. and it is expected that in 1991 that number will vastly increase. H.R. 1415 also earmarks $5 million in each fiscal year for migration assistance to displaced Armenians resettling in Armenia.