In 1992. before the U.N. peacekeepers arrived. there were 130.000 civilian casualties. Last year. there were fewer than three thousand. In addition. over 1.3 million refugees and much of the civilian population of Sarajevo and central Bosniaa total of 2.7 million peopleare dependent upon the relief work of the United Nations. The U.N. may not have kept the peace as well as we had hoped. but it has saved hundreds of thousands of Bosnian lives. This lifesaving capabilityand the maintenance of vital humanitarian supply lineswill all be lost if we unilaterally lift the arms embargo and force the United Nations out of Bosnia. Without the U.N.s humanitarian efforts. we will see more starvation. more loss of life and a new flood of refugees. The almost $500 million in food. medicine. shelter. and other relief supplies which U.N. agencies plan to deliver this year could well be denied to the innocent people of Bosnia. Third. the wider war that is the most likely result if this legislation is enacted is in no ones interest and could have catastrophic consequences.
Keywords matched
refugees