[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15367]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNITION OF WORLD REFUGEE DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK GREEN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 18, 2003

  Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I stand today to recognize World 
Refugee Day, declared on June 20, 2000 and every year thereafter by a 
special UN General Assembly Resolution. Whereas it is unquestionable 
that the new democratically-elected government in Kenya is a positive 
step forward for Africa, I want to also affirm the generosity of Kenya 
toward refugees and asylum-seekers. Statistics show that approximately 
20,000 new refugees and asylum-seekers fled to Kenya during 2002 from 
Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Somaliland, the Democratic Republic 
of Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Djibouti. While we recognize that 
there are ongoing peace efforts in a number of these countries that 
will hopefully allow these refugees to repatriate in safety and 
dignity--the resolution of all the conflicts that have driven these 
refugees to flee may not be resolved in the near future, and Kenya may 
continue to be called upon to assist. We in the Congress acknowledge 
this generosity and sacrifice, and commend the Kenyan people for their 
efforts to help those in need.

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