[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 82 (Monday, June 20, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6833-S6834]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 177--ENCOURAGING THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF 
                                REFUGEES

  Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Leahy, Mr. DeWine, Mr. 
Lieberman, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Coleman, and Mr. Lautenberg) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 177

       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, to engage in wage-
     employment or self-employment, to practice a profession, to 
     own property, to freedom of movement and residence, and to 
     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 warehoused refugees have been confined to a camp or 
     segregated settlement or otherwise deprived of their basic 
     rights;
       Whereas more than 50 percent of the refugees in the world 
     are effectively warehoused 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) expresses deep appreciation and gratitude for those 
     States which have and continue to host refugees and offer 
     refugee resettlement;
       (2) 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 protracted situation, as a denial of basic human rights 
     and a squandering of human potential;
       (3) urges the Secretary of State to actively pursue models 
     of refugee assistance that permit refugees to enjoy all the 
     rights recognized in the Convention and the Protocol;
       (4) 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;
       (5) 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;
       (6) 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;
       (7) encourages those countries that have not yet ratified 
     the Convention or the Protocol to do so;
       (8) 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
       (9) 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.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, today is World Refugee Day and I welcome 
this opportunity to reaffirm the fundamental rights embodied in the 
United Nations Refugee Convention of 1951. It is an honor to join my 
colleagues--Senators Brownback, Leahy, DeWine, Lieberman, Snowe, 
Durbin, Coleman, and Lautenberg--in introducing this bipartisan 
resolution to focus attention on the plight of millions of refugees 
throughout the world who are endlessly confined in refugee camps or 
segregated settlements. These ``warehoused'' refugees are denied basic 
rights under the Convention, such as the right to work, to move freely, 
and to receive a basic education. The deprivation goes on for years and 
in some cases, even for generations.
  Worldwide, more than 7 million refugees have been restricted to camps 
or isolated settlements for 10 years or more. These populations 
constitute more than half of the refugees around the world.
  In Tanzania, nearly 400,000 refugees from Burundi and the Democratic 
Republic of Congo are confined in 13 camps along the western border. 
Some of these camps have existed for more than a decade. Many refugees 
confined in these camps find it extremely difficult to find employment, 
let alone obtain other basic necessities of life. Other refugee 
populations have been warehoused and forgotten for over 20 years, such 
as Angolans in Zambia, Afghans in Iran and Pakistan, Bhutanese

[[Page S6834]]

in Nepal, Burmese in Thailand, and Somalians and Sudanese in Kenya.
  Sadly, the number of warehoused refugees may soon increase as violent 
conflicts continue around the world. According to the recently 
published 2005 World Refugee Survey, the total number of refugees and 
asylum seekers worldwide exceeds 11 million, and 21 million more are 
internally displaced. As these shameful statistics demonstrate, there 
is far more the world community can do to ease their plight.
  The resolution we are offering denounces the practice of warehousing 
refugees and urges all nations to grant them their basic rights under 
the Refugee Convention of 1951. Refugee camps are often created quickly 
to address a crisis. But the solution creates a greater problem, if 
temporary camps are allowed to become long-term places of confinement.
  Under the 1951 Convention, refugees have the right to earn a 
livelihood, to have a job and earn wages, to practice a profession, to 
own property, and to have freedom of movement and residence. Warehoused 
refugees can do none of these things. Unable to work, travel, own 
property or obtain an education, they live unlived lives, without the 
basic freedoms they are entitled to have under the 1951 Convention.
  This resolution denounces the practice of warehousing refugees and 
calls for conditions that enable refugees to exercise their rights. It 
encourages donor countries, including the United States, to increase 
their assistance to host countries that allow refugees to live and work 
among the local population.
  It urges the Secretary of State and the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees to adopt models of refugee assistance that 
achieve the rights recognized in the Refugee Convention. It also 
encourages all nations to ratify the Convention, and without 
reservations, and to enact legislation and policies that protect human 
rights and end the denial of these rights to any refugees.
  The U.S. must strengthen our own commitment and work with other 
countries to solve this problem.
  As a number of authorities have pointed out, we may well have to face 
an urgent aspect of the issue ourselves if conditions in Iraq continue 
to deteriorate and significant numbers of Iraqis are free to become 
refugees because of their ties to us.
  Over 130 international organizations support the end of warehousing, 
including more than 25 agencies based in the United States. Nobel 
Laureates have condemned this practice, including Archbishop Desmond 
Tutu of South Africa, and so has the Vatican.
  We must find long-term solutions and alternatives to this abominable 
practice. It is a gross violation of both refugee rights and human 
rights. It is wrong to squander the immense human potential and condemn 
human refugees to live in despair and isolation for unacceptable 
lengths of time.
  Refugees around the world depend on us to hear their pleas and 
respond to the assistance they so desperately need and deserve. We must 
do all we can to protect the rights and dignity of refugees everywhere.
  I look forward to working with our colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle, as well as in the international community, to pass this 
important resolution and take steps toward implementing its provisions 
and achieving its objectives.

                          ____________________