[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 68 (Wednesday, May 21, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4876-S4877]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               INTERNATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF ASYLUM ERODING

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, every year the respected U.S. Committee 
for Refugees issues a review of the state of the world's refugees. This 
yearly review has earned worldwide respect as the most authoritative 
compilation of analyses, data, and thought-provoking 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 asylum-seekers 
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 long-standing 
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 year's immigration law, and the continued detention of asylum-
seekers 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.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

   Asylum Eroding in More Countries, Report Finds; Refugees' Lives, 
                    Protection Principles Endangered

       Washington, DC.--Asylum for refugees around the world is 
     eroding in more countries than ever before, as governments, 
     including those traditionally friendly to refugees, either 
     close their borders completely or offer ``pseudo-asylum'' 
     that lacks adequate protection, the U.S. Committee for 
     Refugees (USCR) said today.
       ``We are seeing a continuing deterioration in the quality 
     of protection and assistance countries are willing to offer 
     to those fleeing persecution and violence,'' said USCR 
     Director Roger Winter in releasing USCR's 1997 World Refugee 
     Survey. ``This pseudo-asylum not only endangers the lives and 
     well-being of refugees, but threatens to kill the principle 
     of asylum itself,'' Winter said.
       USCR's World Refugee Survey is considered the preeminent 
     source for information on the worldwide refugee situation, 
     and this year's Survey includes 120 detailed country reports, 
     12 statistical tables, and essays on deteriorating asylum 
     standards.
       The 1997 World Refugee Survey provides examples of 
     countries either shutting their doors to asylum seekers or 
     offering pseudo-asylum in the past year:
       The international community deprived Rwandan refugees of 
     true asylum by ignoring serious protection problems in 
     refugee

[[Page S4877]]

     camps in Zaire. The lack of proper asylum for legitimate 
     Rwandan refugees became one trigger for the current civil war 
     in Zaire, which in turn triggered attacks on Zaire's refugee 
     camps. Significant numbers of Rwandan refugees continue to 
     die in central Zaire.
       The Bulk Challenge--a freighter packed with Liberian 
     refugees fleeing violence and chaos in their country--was 
     turned away from one West African port after another last 
     May.
       Burmese refugees in Thailand suffered cross-border attacks 
     on their camps in 1996, while Thai authorities offered little 
     security. In recent months, there have been instances of Thai 
     authorities preventing New Burmese asylum seekers from 
     entering Thailand and forcibly returning those who have 
     managed to cross the border.
       Iraq Curds who fled to Iran last September returned to Iraq 
     by the end of the year because the quality of asylum offered 
     by Iranian authorities was so poor. The close proximity of 
     the camps to the border allowed them to be shelled from Iraq, 
     while basic services were lacking. When the Iraqis began 
     returning to their country under questionable circumstances, 
     UNHCR was not permitted access to the camps.
       ``The deterioration of asylum is not only an African 
     phenomenon,'' said Winter. ``The problem can be found in 
     every corner of the world and even in our own backyards as 
     the recent changes in U.S. asylum law shows,'' he said. The 
     new U.S. asylum law, which went into effect in April, makes 
     it harder for asylum seekers to apply for asylum, in part 
     through a summary removal procedure for persons arriving with 
     false documents, the only way many asylum seekers can flee 
     repressive governments.
       Other Western governments are also taking a more 
     restrictive approach. In Germany, authorities are seeking to 
     withdraw asylum for Bosnians prematurely. Authorities there 
     recently ended temporary protected status for Bosnians and 
     are beginning to send them back to an unstable situation in 
     Bosnia, which is short on housing, landmine sweeping, jobs, 
     freedom of movement, and tolerance.
       The 1997 World Refugee Survey reports that although the 
     total number of refugees, internally displaced people, and 
     asylum seekers is at a seven-year low of roughly 34 million 
     people, the reasons are complex. While human rights 
     conditions have sufficiently improved for refugees to 
     repatriate to Guatemala, Haiti, Mozambique, and Cambodia, 
     refugees elsewhere have been forcibly repatriated to unsafe 
     conditions. At least 18 countries, including the United 
     States, forcibly expelled refugees or insufficiently screened 
     asylum seekers in 1996.
       Founded in 1958, the U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) is 
     a private humanitarian agency which defends the rights of 
     refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced persons worldwide.


            Countries that damaged asylum principles in 1996

       (This is a selected list and should not be viewed as 
     comprehensive)
       The Bahamas (denied asylum to Cubans)
       Bangladesh (denied asylum to and forcibly repatriated 
     Burmese)
       Cote d'Ivoire (denied asylum to Liberians)
       Germany (announced intention to forcibly repatriate 
     Bosnians)
       Ghana (denied asylum to Liberians)
       Hong Kong (forcibly repatriated Vietnamese)
       Iran (provided inadequate asylum for Iraqi Kurds and 
     expelled Afghans)
       Lebanon (provided inadequate asylum to Palestinians)
       Tanzania (forcibly repatriated Burundians and some Rwandans 
     and denied asylum to Burundians)
       Togo (denied asylum to Liberians)
       Turkey (denied asylum to Iraqi Kurds, expelled Iraqis and 
     Iranians)
       United States (provided inadequate asylum procedures for 
     Cubans)

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