[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 91 (Thursday, June 17, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5104-S5106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
WORLD REFUGEE DAY 2010
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this Sunday, June 20, is World Refugee Day.
On June 20, 2001, we recognized World Refugee Day for the first time,
in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees.
At the end of the last century, war and ethnic cleansing in the
former Yugoslavia left many people without a home or the protection of
their country of origin. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 and the
subsequent wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo forced refugees to
flee to Tanzania and other neighboring states. As of last fall, over
300,000 individuals in Tanzania were
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still waiting for safe, third country resettlement. The dissolution of
the former Soviet Union, followed by war and ethnic strife in Chechnya,
the Caucasus, and Central Asian successor states, created millions of
refugees and internally displaced persons. Some of these former Soviet
citizens were left stateless and remain so, unable to claim the rights
or protection of any nation.
Despite these tragic events, the first World Refugee Day was an
occasion of great hope. It provided an opportunity to celebrate the
perseverance of refugees as they begin new lives in foreign lands, join
new communities, learn new languages, and help their families adjust.
The inaugural World Refugee Day celebrated the hard work of
organizations such as the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees and other voluntary agencies dedicated to
serving refugees. The day also acknowledged the personal contributions
of volunteers in the United States and around the world to help
refugees resettle in their communities. Finally, World Refugee Day
raised awareness about the challenging conditions faced by refugees,
whether they are fleeing violence and persecution, or waiting in a
camp, hoping that a safe nation will welcome them and provide them
security.
The last 10 years have not been easy for refugees. War and conflict
around the globe have produced more refugees, yet the financial crisis
and global economic downturn have made it more difficult for
comparatively wealthy countries to contribute funds to support refugees
and resettlement programs. For refugees recently resettled in the
United States, the high unemployment rate, increased demand for low
income housing, and strain on community service providers has made it
more difficult for these new Americans to start to build their new
lives.
After the September 11, 2001, attacks, certain changes to U.S. asylum
law were enacted that have the effect of denying protection to genuine
refugees, such as child soldiers and women forced into sexual slavery,
if their coerced actions are labeled as ``material support'' for
terrorism.
Throughout this difficult time, I have remained proud of the role
that our country plays in supporting refugees and internally displaced
persons abroad and helping refugees resettle in the United States.
Since the 1980 Refugee Act was enacted, more than 2.6 million refugees
and asylum seekers have been resettled in the United States.
My home State of Vermont has welcomed more than 5,300 refugees since
1989. In 2001, the same year as the first World Refugee Day, the first
group of the ``Lost Boys'' of Sudan was resettled in Vermont. These
boys had traveled hundreds of miles by foot to escape war and ethnic-
and religious-based persecution. They were warehoused in refugee camps
in Kenya and Ethiopia before being resettled in the United States. In
the 9 years since they have arrived in Vermont, many have graduated
from college, and some have gone on to attend graduate school.
Vermont has received refugees from across the globe, including
Bosnia, Burundi, Vietnam, Somalia, and Russia. Hundreds of Vermonters
have volunteered to help these refugees adapt to life in Vermont,
welcoming them into their homes, schools, and places of worship. The
newcomers have had a profound effect on life in Vermont, starting small
businesses, excelling in local soccer teams, creating art, running
community gardens, and sharing their cultures. In one Vermont school
district, all signs are in English, Vietnamese, and Serbo-Croatian,
reflecting just a few of the many languages spoken by the diverse
student population. Not only do the Vermont-born students learn a
little more about the world from their classmates who are refugees, but
they also learn an important lesson about the resolve and durability of
the human spirit.
While I am proud of the United States' long-standing commitment to
refugees, I believe that we as lawmakers can do better for the world's
most vulnerable populations. That is why I introduced S.3113, the
Refugee Protection Act of 2010. The bill will bring the United States
back into compliance with the Refugee Convention. Through modifications
to the statute and misinterpretations of law in court decisions, the
United States is falling short in some areas of refugee protection. The
bill corrects serious problems in our law, such as the material support
provision, which can prevent innocent victims of persecution from
gaining protection. It also repeals the one-year filing deadline for
asylum seekers in the United States. The deadline was unnecessary when
it was added to the law in 1996, and remains unnecessary now. The bill
also improves due process protections for asylum seekers without
lowering the standards that one must meet in order to gain refugee
status.
For resettled refugees in the United States, the bill ensures that
per capita grants to assist these new Americans are adjusted every year
to reflect the cost of living and inflation. The Obama administration
raised the per capita grant level this year after it had languished at
an unacceptably low level for years. I commend that action, but want to
ensure the number does not remain stagnant.
I thank Senators Levin, Akaka, Durbin, and Burris for their support
of the Refugee Protection Act. I hope that on World Refugee Day, others
will join us in helping victims of persecution worldwide.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, this Sunday, June 20, the world will
observe the tenth annual World Refugee Day. On this day, we call
attention to humanity's efforts, through the United Nations, the work
of individual governments, and of nongovernmental organizations, to
alleviate the plight of those forced from their homes by conflict or
hatred.
Sadly, while the world's commitment to these refugees is great, the
scope of the problem is even greater. Last year, more than 43 million
people were forcibly displaced from their homes, the largest number
since the mid-1990s. At the same time, data from the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees show that the number of refugees who
resettled in 2009 was at the lowest level in two decades.
These figures, just for 2009, include more than 2.8 million people
who have fled homes in Afghanistan, more than 1.7 million people from
Iraq, more than half a million in Somalia, nearly half a million from
the Democratic Republic of Congo. These stunning numbers represent the
human cost of humanity's inability to live in peace. These seemingly
endless millions represent mothers who struggle to feed their babies,
children unable to go to school, families without dependable access to
clean water or food or medical care. They are without homes, and if the
world is silent to their pleas for aid, they will be without hope.
Fortunately, this human tragedy has prompted global action, with the
United States in the lead. The Refugee Act of 1980 guides U.S. policy
with regards to refugees, and since its passage, more than two and a
half million people forced from their homes have been resettled in the
United States. Of the more than 112,000 refugees who found refuge in
countries other than their home in 2009, about 80,000, or nearly three-
quarters, were resettled in the United States.
Despite our commitment to aiding refugees and to finding them new
homes, our current policies often stand in the way of fulfilling our
responsibility to help. Current law and administrative practice too
often put unnecessary burdens on those seeking asylum here, even
barring some who hope to escape the worst sorts of violence and
persecution from entering the United States.
Seeking to address these problems, I have joined Senators Leahy and
Durbin in sponsoring the Refugee Protection Act of 2010. Our
legislation would extend protections for those seeking asylum in the
United States; reform the process by which asylum seekers can be
expelled from this country; modify existing law to ensure that
legitimate asylum-seekers are not inadvertently caught up in
antiterrorism protections while ensuring that terrorists are unable to
manipulate the system to gain entry; and ease the path to resettlement
for asylum-seekers and their families. Failing to remedy these gaps in
our refugee law would carry a great human cost. As Dan Glickman, the
president of Refugees International, testified to the Judiciary
Committee during a hearing on our bill last month, ``The Refugee
Protection Act will help us do the right thing by
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creating a more efficient and fair process for providing safe haven to
the world's most vulnerable.''
We face this continuing challenge without one of the world's most
eloquent and effective advocates for the world's refugees. Senator Ted
Kennedy led the drive to pass the original Refugee Act of 1980. He was
a tireless advocate for the innocent victims of conflict, religious
persecution and ethnic hatred. As we approach another World Refugee
Day, we would benefit enormously from his leadership, but we can gain
inspiration from his example. So long as there are people forced from
their homes by war and persecution, this Nation will have a
responsibility to act, and the Refugee Protection Act is an important
opportunity to do so.
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