Speech #1090043835

Mr. Speaker. I rise today. on World Refugee Day. to pay tribute to the indomitable spirit and courage of the worlds refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). as well as the brave people who help them rebuild their lives. I recognize the generosity of the United States and its assistance to refugees. However. the next year promises to be a unique opportunity for the return of refugees. and in order to seize this opportunity. we must increase our investment in longterm development to make refugee returns durable. I also urge the Bush Administration government to do more to protect current refugees. resolve the conflicts that produce refugees. and prevent future refugee crises. Among the most vulnerable groups of people in the world are those who are displaced. whether as a result of conflict. persecution or other human rights violations. Often losing everything but hope. refugees and IDPs are among the great survivors of our time. Initially. the fear that refugees and IDPs must overcome may be the immediate one of trying to escape the horrors of war and persecution. the pain of losing homes and loved ones. and the ordeal of flight. Refugees and IDPs deserve our respectnot just for enduring the dangers and violence of the crises that made them refugeesbut also for the courage they show in rebuilding their lives and contributing to society in difficult or. unfamiliar circumstances. Albert Einstein. Victor Hugo. Congressman TOM LANTOS. Thabo Mbeki. Marlene Dietrich. and Paul Rusesabagina (of Hotel Rwanda fame) were all refugees whose phenomenal achievements earned the worlds respect. Todays refugees are also heroes and deserve no less than our respect. But giving our respect to refugees and IDPstruly honorlng their couragerequires much more than flattering rhetorc and pledges of solidarity. It requires us to look back at what the world has done well to assist refugees and IDPs. It also requires us to deepen our understanding of the perils and fears they continue to face. In addition. if we truly want to celebrate their courage. it means we must focus our attention on what still needs to be done to help them. People have fled persecution from the moment in history when they began forming communities. The tradition of offering asylum began at almost the same time. And when nations began to develop an international conscience in the early 20th century. efforts to help refugees also spread across the globe. In 1921. Frldtjof Nansen was appointed as the first refugee High Commissioner of the League of Nations. the forerunner of the United Nations. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) began as a small organization. with a threeyear mandate to help resettle millions of European refugees who were still homeless in the aftermath of the Second World War. Since that time. the organization has continually expanded to meet the growing needs of refugees and other displaced people. In more than five decades. the agency has helped an estimated 50 million people restart their lives. Today. a staff of more than 6.000 people in more than 100 countries continues to help some 17 million persons in every corner of the world. Today I commend the outstanding. tireless work of the UNHCR. However. as a former high commissioner said. the fact that the world still finds a need for the UNHCR should serve as a sobering reminder of the international communitys continuing failure to prevent prejudice. persecution. poverty and other root causes of conflict and displacement. In our tribute to the worlds refugees. it is important not to forget the internally displaced persons. or IDPs. Last week. during his first few days as the 10th U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Ant6nio Guterres reminded the world that millions of internally displaced people are not currently being cared for. The internal displacement problem is one of the biggest neglected humanitarian problems that we face. The abstract term "internal displacement." created to distinguish IDPs from refugees. fails to convey the immense human suffering most internally displaced people are forced to undergo. The act of displacement itself often is accompanied by violence and the most serious human rights violations such as killings. torture. kidnappings and rape. IDPs are a very vulnerable category and most of them receive less assistance than refugees in camps. Whereas refugees have managed to cross borders to escape persecution. the internally displaced. for various reasons. are stuck within the same borders between which forces of violence and persecution continue to hunt them. The number of people "of concern" to UNHCR. including IDPs. grew last year by over 2 million to 19.2 million. The increase was mainly the result of a rise in the numbers of internally displaced people and stateless persons to 7.6 million--up from 5.3 million at the end of 2003.