[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 114 (Thursday, August 5, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10358-S10359]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 LET'S SEEK BALANCE IN REFUGEE FUNDING

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to bring my colleagues' 
attention to the plight of refugees in Africa. Just last week we have 
been reminded yet again of the disparity in the resources provided to 
assist those in need on the African continent compared to those in 
Europe. At a briefing to the U.N. Security Council on July 26, United 
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Sadako Ogata outlined 
some of the desperate problems facing the over 1.5 million refugees the 
agency currently counts in Africa. These problems are aggravated by a 
serious shortfall in international funding for UN refugee efforts. By 
some accounts, only 60% of the UNHCR's $137

[[Page S10359]]

million budget for general programs for Africa has been funded to date. 
The total UNHCR funding for all of Africa for 1999, including the 
general program, special programs, and emergencies, is only $302 
million. That compares to $520 million set aside just for special 
programs and emergencies for the Former Yugoslavia.
  The international response to the refugee crisis in Africa remains 
woefully inadequate. The situation is made even worse by the disparity 
between the donations offered to assist European refugees and those 
offered to support African refugees. As Mrs. Ogata so succinctly noted 
on July 26, ``Undeniably, proximity, strategic interest and 
extraordinary media focus have played a key role in determining the 
quality and level of response.'' While this may explain why Kosovo has 
received far greater refugee assistance than have the multiple crises 
in Africa, it can not justify that imbalance. The suffering of a family 
driven from its home or a child wrenched from its family by war is no 
less because it happens in Africa, away from the media glare and the 
familiar sources of conflict in Europe.
  While I understand that there are necessary limits to the resources 
available for the millions of refugees in the world, I believe we 
should render our precious contribution to humanitarian assistance in a 
fair and balanced manner. As I have said many times on this floor--why 
Kosovo and not Sudan or Sierra Leone or Rwanda? To those who will cite 
our ``strategic'' interests in Europe, I respond that I believe our 
``moral'' interests are also critically important to this nation's 
standing in the world.
  I appreciate the State Department's announcement of an additional 
mid-year $11.7 million contribution to the UNHCR's general program, of 
which $6.6 million was designated for Africa. This is a good start, but 
it still falls far short of what Africa needs and what Europe gets. It 
does not please me to have to highlight the regional disparity in 
refugee assistance. But I believe it is important for the Senate to be 
on record in strong support of a fair and balanced effort to meet the 
needs of refugees throughout the world.

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