Speech #1050033192

Mr. President. every year the respected U.S. Committee for Refugees issues a review of the state of the worlds refugees. This yearly review has earned worldwide respect as the most authoritative compilation of analyses. data. and thoughtprovoking information on refugees. The 1997 World Refugee Survey. released yesterday is especially troubling. The Committee finds that many countries which were once considered safe havens for refugees and asylum seekers are beginning to turn their backs on persons fleeing persecution. The report estimates that the number of refugees and asylumseekers decreased last year to about 14.5 million worldwide. But this apparent decrease is misleading. The Committee attributes it in part to the higher barriers to asylum erected in many countries last year. including the United States. In addition. some countries have begun to forcibly repatriate refugees back to their home countries. even if conditions in those countries have not improved. For example. Thailand has recently begun to forcibly return Burmese refugees to their persecutors in Burma. There is some good news. Several countries. including Guatemala. Haiti. Mozambique. and Cambodia. have improved their human rights situations. so that some refugees have been able to return to their homes. Sadly. the overall message of the report is that basic longstanding international principles of asylum and refugee protection are in trouble. As this report points out. the United States bears a share of responsibility for this problem. The summary exclusion provisions of last years immigration law. and the continued detention of asylumseekers sets a poor example for other countries which look to the United States for guidance on asylum and refugee protection. Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent that a U.S. Committee for Refugees press release be printed in the RECORD.