[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 449 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 449

         Encouraging the protection of the rights of refugees.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 6, 2004

 Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. Brownback, and Mr. Leahy) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
         Encouraging the protection of the rights of refugees.

Whereas the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees dated July 28, 1951 
        (189 UST 150) (hereinafter referred to as the ``Convention'') and the 
        Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees done at New York January 31, 
        1967 (19 UST 6223) (hereinafter referred to as the ``Protocol'') provide 
        that individuals who flee a country to avoid persecution deserve 
        international protection;
Whereas such protection includes freedom from forcible return and the basic 
        rights necessary for a refugee to live a free, dignified, self-reliant 
        life, even while in exile;
Whereas such rights, as recognized in the Convention, include the right to earn 
        a livelihood, including the right to engage in wage-employment or self-
        employment, practice a profession, own property, freedom of movement and 
        residence, and receive travel documents;
Whereas such rights are applicable to a refugee independent of whether a 
        solution is available that would permit the refugee to return to the 
        country that the refugee fled;
Whereas such rights are part of the core protection mandate of the United 
        Nations High Commissioner for Refugees;
Whereas more than 50 percent of the refugees in the world are effectively 
        ``warehoused'', which means such refugees have been confined to a camp 
        or segregated settlement or otherwise deprived of their basic rights in 
        a situation that has existed for at least 10 years;
Whereas donor countries, including the United States, have typically offered 
        less developed countries hosting refugees assistance if they keep 
        refugees warehoused in camps or segregated settlements but have not 
        provided adequate assistance to host countries that permit refugees to 
        live and work among the local population; and
Whereas warehousing refugees not only violates the rights of the refugees but 
        also debilitates their humanity, often reducing the refugees to enforced 
        idleness, dependency, disempowerment, and despair: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the United States Senate--
            (1) denounces the practice of warehousing refugees, which 
        is the confinement of refugees to a camp or segregated 
        settlement or other deprivation of the refugees' basic rights 
        in a situation that has lasted 10 years or more, as a denial of 
        basic human rights and a squandering of human potential;
            (2) urges the Secretary of State to actively pursue models 
        of refugee assistance that permit refugees to enjoy all the 
        rights recognized in the Convention Relating to the Status of 
        Refugees dated July 28, 1951 (189 UST 150) (hereinafter 
        referred to as the ``Convention'') and the Protocol Relating to 
        the Status of Refugees done at New York January 31, 1967 (19 
        UST 6223) (hereinafter referred to as the ``Protocol'');
            (3) urges the Secretary of State to encourage other donor 
        nations and other members of the Executive Committee of the 
        United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' Programme to 
        shift the incentive structure of refugee assistance and to 
        build mechanisms into relief and development assistance to 
        encourage the greater enjoyment by refugees of their rights 
        under the Convention;
            (4) encourages the international community, including donor 
        countries, host countries, and members of the Executive 
        Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' 
        Programme, to denounce resolutely the practice of warehousing 
        refugees in favor of allowing refugees to exercise their rights 
        under the Convention;
            (5) calls upon the United Nations High Commissioner for 
        Refugees to monitor refugee situations more effectively for the 
        realization of all the rights of refugees under the Convention, 
        including those related to freedom of movement and the right to 
        earn a livelihood;
            (6) encourages those countries that have not yet ratified 
        the Convention or the Protocol to do so;
            (7) encourages those countries that have ratified the 
        Convention or the Protocol but have done so with reservations 
        on key articles pertaining to the right to work and freedom of 
        movement to remove such reservations; and
            (8) encourages all countries to enact legislation or 
        promulgate policies to provide for the legal enjoyment of the 
        basic rights of refugees as outlined in the Convention.
                                 <all>