[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9537]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           WORLD REFUGEE DAY

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this year, we celebrate the 60th 
anniversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. 
I am pleased that today, June 20, the international community is 
celebrating World Refugee Day, an important opportunity to recognize 
the continuing plight of the millions of refugees around the world who 
deserve our protection.
  It is also a moment to celebrate the accomplishments of refugees who 
have been resettled and are building new lives in the countries that 
welcomed them.
  The theme of World Refugee Day 2011 is ``Real People, Real Needs.'' 
This theme reminds us that each individual refugee has a story to tell. 
Every refugee has experienced persecution, causing him or her to flee a 
home, a community, and a nation, because the circumstances are so dire 
that flight is the only option. Conflicts around the world are 
displacing persons, such that the United Nations High Commissioner for 
Refugees now counts over 43 million persons who have been forced from 
their homes, which include refugees, internally displaced, and 
stateless persons. For many of the world's 15.4 million refugees, 
resettlement is the only hope they have of rebuilding a stable life and 
home.
  The United States has long been committed to resettling refugees, but 
our resettlement program was strengthened by the enactment of the 1980 
Refugee Act. Over the past 30 years, more than 2.6 million refugees and 
asylum seekers have found safety in the United States. And since 1989, 
almost 5,600 refugees have been resettled in my home State of Vermont. 
We are fortunate to have the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, with 
its decades of experience and award-winning volunteer program, leading 
this effort. Over the last 5 years, many of these new Vermonters have 
come from Bhutan, Burma, and the Congo. Their culture is enriching my 
historically Anglo Saxon and French Canadian State.
  Throughout this challenging time, I have remained proud of the role 
that our Nation plays in protecting refugees abroad and in helping many 
resettle in the United States. In a time of tight budgets, I was 
pleased to be able to protect funding for refugee assistance and 
resettlement programs in the fiscal year 2011 appropriations continuing 
resolution, when many other programs were cut.
  The United States is a leader in international refugee protection. I 
am proud of that commitment and will work to ensure our government 
maintains this strong financial and political support. There is more 
that we can do, however.
  I regret that the United States is not in full compliance with its 
obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention. Changes to the law and a 
handful of court opinions issued in recent years have eroded 
protections for some of the most vulnerable asylum seekers.
  Last week, I reintroduced the Refugee Protection Act, S. 1202, to 
restore the legal foundation of the United States for protection of 
refugees and asylum seekers. The Refugee Protection Act will correct 
serious shortcomings in current law, such as the overly broad 
definition of material support for terrorist groups.
  The Refugee Protection Act does not diminish the rigor of security 
and background checks of incoming refugees, but it recognizes that the 
current law sweeps in a large number of persons who were victims of 
persecution at the hands of terrorist organizations, not supporters of 
those terrorist groups.
  The Refugee Protection Act also repeals the 1-year filing deadline 
for asylum seekers in the United States. This deadline was unnecessary 
when it was added to the law in 1996 and remains unnecessary now.
  Under court decisions interpreting our law, certain groups of asylum 
seekers can face improperly high barriers to protection. For example, 
the Board of Immigration Appeals has required seekers who base a claim 
on persecution of their social group to show that the group is 
``socially visible.'' This requirement is not a part of the statute or 
implementing regulations. Moreover, it is unnecessarily onerous for 
certain groups who take great pains to conceal their membership in the 
social group. For example, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered 
individuals from certain countries may have to hide their identity to 
avoid physical attacks or extreme social isolation. Women from certain 
cultures must conceal that they have not been forcibly circumcised or 
face the threat that tribal leaders will subject them to this violent 
and dangerous practice.
  Our law grants asylum to those who have experienced persecution or 
have a well-founded fear of future persecution. Therefore, courts 
should not require these individuals to risk serious harm by exposing 
their membership in the persecuted social group in the home nation. 
Social visibility may be a factor in some cases, but must not be a 
baseline requirement to prevail on an asylum claim.
  I thank Senators Levin, Akaka, and Durbin for their support of the 
Refugee Protection Act of 2011. I also thank Representative Zoe Lofgren 
for introducing a companion bill, H.R. 2185, in the House of 
Representatives.
  I hope that on World Refugee Day others will join us in helping to 
reform our domestic laws to help the victims of persecution worldwide.

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