[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 98 (Thursday, June 18, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4302-S4304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
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SENATE RESOLUTION 204--RECOGNIZING JUNE 20, 2015 AS ``WORLD REFUGEE
DAY''
Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Durbin, Mr.
Markey, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Coons, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Baldwin, Mr.
Kaine, Ms. Stabenow, Mrs. Murray, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. King, Mr. Brown, Mr.
Reed of Rhode Island, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Klobuchar, Mrs.
Feinstein, and Mr. Casey) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:
S. Res. 204
Whereas World Refugee Day is a global day to honor the
courage, strength, and determination of women, men, and
children who are forced to flee their homes under the threats
of conflict, violence, and persecution;
Whereas according to the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (referred to in this preamble as ``UNHCR'')--
(1) there are nearly 60,000,000 displaced people worldwide,
the highest levels ever recorded, including almost 20,000,000
refugees, 38,000,000 internally displaced people, and
1,800,000 people seeking asylum;
(2) children account for 51 percent of the refugee
population in the world;
(3) nearly 4,000,000 refugees have fled Syria since the
start of the Syrian conflict and more than 7,600,000 people
are internally displaced;
(4) approximately 1,325,000 people are displaced within
Ukraine with approximately 800,000 Ukrainians seeking
protection in other countries as a result of a worsening
humanitarian situation in nongovernment controlled areas;
(5) since April 2015, sporadic outbursts of violence in
Burundi have prompted more than 100,000 Burundians to flee to
the neighboring countries of Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and
the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
(6) violent insurgent attacks in Nigeria have forced
167,000 people to flee to the neighboring countries of
Cameroon, Chad,
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and Niger, and have internally displaced nearly 1,500,000
people;
(7) more than 88,000 women, men, and children, including
many persecuted Rohingya refugees from Burma, have departed
on smugglers' boats from the Bay of Bengal since 2014, more
than 1,000 of whom have died at sea;
(8) as of June 2015, more than 100,000 refugees and
migrants have crossed the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa
and at least 1,800 women, men, and children have died during
such crossings or are missing;
(9) more than 180,000 Iraqi refugees and nearly 3,000,000
internally displaced Iraqis;
(10) nearly 6,000,000 internally displaced Colombians;
(11) nearly 700,000 South Sudanese refugees in neighboring
countries; and
(12) more than 465,000 refugees from the Central African
Republic;
Whereas refugees who are women and girls are often at a
greater risk of sexual violence and exploitation, forced or
early marriage, human trafficking, and other forms of gender-
based violence;
Whereas the United States provides critical resources and
support to the UNHCR and other international and
nongovernmental organizations working with refugees around
the world; and
Whereas since 1975, the United States has welcomed more
than 3,000,000 refugees who are resettled in communities
across the country: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) reaffirms the bipartisan commitment of the United
States to promote the safety, health, and well-being of the
millions of refugees and displaced persons who flee war,
persecution, and torture in search of peace, hope, and
freedom;
(2) calls upon the United States Government--
(A) to continue its international leadership role in
response to those who have been displaced, including the most
vulnerable populations who endure sexual violence, human
trafficking, forced conscription, genocide, and exploitation;
and
(B) to find political solutions to existing conflicts and
prevent new conflicts from beginning;
(3) commends those who have risked their lives working
individually and for the countless nongovernmental
organizations and international agencies such as UNHCR that
have provided life-saving assistance and helped protect those
displaced by conflict around the world; and
(4) reiterates the strong bipartisan commitment of the
United States to protect and assist millions of refugees and
other forcibly uprooted persons worldwide.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to submit a resolution to
mark World Refugee Day, June 20, and to address the growing global
crisis of people forcibly displaced by persecution or conflict.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, for
the first time since World War II, over 60 million people have been
forced from their homes and displaced in their own countries or forced
to flee abroad. Last year alone, 14 million people were uprooted by
violence and persecution, most escaping conflicts in Syria, Iraq, South
Sudan, Ukraine, Burma, and Afghanistan. There are more and more
protracted crises, and the result is an exponential increase in
humanitarian needs.
The worldwide displacement from wars, conflict, and persecution in
2014 was the highest level recorded and accelerating fast, escalating
to 60 million last year from 51.2 million in 2013, and a dramatic
increase from the 37.5 million of a decade ago. We are on course to
over double the number of refugees worldwide.
The increase since 2013 was the highest ever seen in a single year.
Syria is still the world's largest producer of internally displaced
persons at 7.6 million and refugees at nearly 4 million.
The 60 million that I previously mentioned can be broken down to 20
million refugees, over 38 million internally displaced persons, and 1.8
million asylum seekers.
The magnitude of the Syrian disaster is perhaps the most shocking.
After 4 years of conflict, the situation is increasingly desperate for
both the refugees and the host countries such as Jordan, Lebanon,
Turkey, and northern Iraq. Since 2011, 4 million people have fled
Syria. The futures of over 3 million Syrian children have been stolen
because they have no access to education. Over 2 million Syrian women
are in the neighboring countries trying to survive. Dangerous coping
mechanisms are on the rise. More and more families are forced to send
their children to work or marry off their young daughters. In the tiny
country of Lebanon alone, there are over 300,000 Syrian refugee
children who have no access to school.
It is hard to comprehend the demographic, economic, and social impact
of millions of refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. The number of
refugees in Lebanon will be equivalent to 88 million new refugees
arriving in the United States. Turkey has already spent $6 billion in
direct assistance for refugees in its care. At the same time, many
countries in the West have been extraordinarily reluctant to admit the
most vulnerable Syrians as refugees. While contributing generously to
humanitarian funding, the United States has only accepted about 900
Syrian refugees. Because Syrians are finding it increasingly difficult
to find safety, they are being forced to move further afield. Since
January, over 100,000 people, mostly from Syria, have crossed the
Mediterranean in boats in search of protection in Europe--an extremely
dangerous journey.
We know that the Syrian humanitarian disaster, which has destabilized
an entire region, is not the accidental byproduct of conflict. It is
instead one result of a strategy pursued by the Assad regime. The
United Nations Commission of Inquiry in Syria has documented that the
Assad regime intentionally engages in the indiscriminate bombardment of
homes, hospitals, schools, and water and electrical facilities in order
to terrorize the civilian population. ISIL and al-Nusra have also
shelled areas with high concentrations of civilians.
In Syria's neighbor next door, Iraq, the number of people requiring
humanitarian assistance has grown to 8.2 million people. Three million
people have been forced from their homes. Half of the displaced are
children.
To the south, in Yemen, there is a grave and escalating humanitarian
crisis. The country was particularly vulnerable even before this
conflict. Now civilians throughout the country are facing alarming
levels of suffering and violence. Over 1 million have been forced from
their homes and are now living in empty schools and other public
buildings or along highways.
We are also witnessing religious and ethnic persecution become part
of the violent conflict that has pushed millions of people out of the
regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. The unfolding human tragedy in South
Sudan, which is perhaps the most frustrating to me, never should have
happened. The violence engulfing that small country is entirely manmade
and wholly the responsibility of the President and opposition leader
and their affiliate militias and armed groups.
Each leader refuses to prioritize the well-being of his own people
and instead continues to seek military advantage, violating multiple
ceasefire agreements and refusing to meet numerous deadlines for
reaching a peace deal. It is hard to overstate the gravity of
conditions in South Sudan. I fear there is no end in sight to the
suffering of the people there.
The 18-month conflict in South Sudan has already killed an estimated
50,000 people and has displaced over 2 million more, including one-half
million who fled to neighboring countries and over 120,000 sheltering
in United Nations peacekeeping bases across the country. A nationwide
famine was averted in 2014, thanks largely to the assistance from
international community.
But the World Food Programme recently warned that 4.6 million people,
nearly half the population, will need food aid by the end of this
month. Conditions in the country of Sudan are hardly better for those
affected by the continuing conflict in Darfur. Attacks on U.N.
peacekeepers are on the rise in Darfur. Military offenses by the
Khartoum have caused well over 50,000 people to flee their homes this
year. The Khartoum has also expelled international nongovernmental
organizations, NGOs, and is trying its best to drive out the U.N.
peacekeeping mission in Darfur. This number does not include the
hundreds of thousands of people who have fled the violence in the South
Kordofan and Blue Nile states. But there has been little information
about conditions in government-held areas in both of these states, as
Sudan has not allowed human rights investigators access.
In northeastern Nigeria, 1.5 million people have fled their homes due
to attacks by the terrorist group Boko Haram. Boko Haram is estimated
to have killed over 12,000 people, kidnapped thousands, including 276
girls
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from the Chibok School whose whereabouts remain unknown.
Over 74,000 Nigerians are refugees in Cameroon, another 100,000
refugees are in the area. The global refugee trends are indeed
alarming. The international assistance being provided is not keeping
pace with the scale of the problem. For example, almost halfway through
2015, the United Nation's humanitarian appeal for Syria is only 20
percent funded. Yet, in the spirit of World Refugee Day, we must
redouble our efforts to prevent conflicts that force families to flee
their homes, villages, and cities. We must also then create the
conditions to get these refugees safely back home.
First, we need to ask ourselves hard questions about how we can
increase the effectiveness of the assistance we provide. Most refugees
live in urban areas, not in traditional refugee camps. Refugees who
live in cities face unique vulnerabilities, which must change how
international assistance is now being given. Moreover, protracted
crises are the new normal. Seventy-five percent of the world refugees
are caught in long-term crisis situations, with many refugees displaced
for an average of 17 years. We need to use our humanitarian and
development dollars more skillfully so we are providing durable
solutions to chronic vulnerabilities.
Second, the international community must get serious about protecting
the most vulnerable refugees: women and children. Women are facing
horrible threats in conflicts across the globe, where rape and sexual
assault are being used as weapons of war, and as vulnerable refugees
they continue to be targets of gender-based violence. Moreover,
children now make up half of all refugees worldwide. We must do more to
protect them from sexual exploitation and abuse, recruitment as child
soldiers, and early marriages. The United Nations Population Fund,
Mercy Corps, the International Rescue Committee, and Catholic Relief
Services know how to provide targeted support and protection to women
and children refugees, but we in the international community must fund
them adequately to do the job.
Third, we must strengthen the capacity of U.N. peacekeeping. As David
Miliband, former British Foreign Secretary, now head of the
International Rescue Committee noted:
At a time of cuts in defense budgets, new and asymmetric
threats, and record numbers of people fleeing conflict, the
case of strengthened and more fairly shared UN peacekeeping
is overwhelming. Peacekeepers, properly resourced and led,
have never been more needed and the consequences of inaction
never more evident.
Finally, we must do more to hold accountable the leaders who are
responsible for mass humanitarian atrocities. The U.N. Commissioner for
Refugees recently commented that he continues to be shocked by the
indifference of those who carry the political responsibility for
millions of people being uprooted from their homes. They accept forced
displacement, with an impact on individuals, on countries, communities,
and entire regions, as normal collateral damage of the wars they lead.
They act with the conviction that humanitarian workers will come and
pick up the pieces. It is clear the international humanitarian
community can no longer stanch the human misery brought on by this
callous indifference and criminal leadership. The international
community must hold those responsible accountable, those who break all
the rules in pursuit of their war aims.
To that end, it was a grave mistake that between October 2011 and
July 2012, Russia and China vetoed three Security Council resolutions
which were designed to hold the Syrian Government to account for its
mass atrocities. It was also unfortunate that Sudanese President Umar
al-Bashir was allowed to depart South Africa earlier this week without
being detained again, escaping an arrest warrant from the International
Criminal Court, where he would be on trial for crimes against humanity
in Darfur.
In closing, we must recognize that as these conflicts proliferate, no
corner of the world will be left unaffected. On World Refugee Day, we
recognize that every person fleeing his or her home deserves compassion
and help and to live in safety and dignity. We must recommit to work
smarter and harder to assist the world's most vulnerable people.
Next year on this day, I want to stand before the Senate again and
speak of the progress we have made and the lives we have saved by our
collective efforts. History will judge us accordingly if we fail.
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