True. as the gentleman from Indiana said. section 907 of the 1992 Freedom Support Act. which prohibits United States Government aid to the Government of Azerbaijan. permits humanitarian aid to be given through NGOs. Over 60 million has been expended as of December 31. 1994. But the need is so much greater than that. considering that Azerbaijan has almost 1 million refugees. And according to the State Departments Office for the Coordinator of Assistance for the Newly Independent States. there are relatively few PVOs in Azerbaijan to distribute and to administer United States humanitarian aid. Moreover. Mr. Chairman. U.S. officials tell my office that fear of violating the restrictions imposed by section 907 keeps them from addressing the dire humanitarian needs of refugees. For example. they do not send prescription drugs to Azerbaijan. because such medicine must be administered by doctors. who can hardly be found outside the framework of governmentrun hospitals. Consequently. our aid to Azerbaijan is not nearly as effective as it could be. and Azerbaijanis are left to feel that the United States only cares about certain refugees. but not about others. As for democracy. Azerbaijan frankly needs all the help it can get.
Keywords matched
refugees