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This Subcommittee with its close scrutiny of the situation scrutiny of the situation
is well aware of the policies we have followed to provide
assistance to the countries of first asylum and to resettle
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refugees in this country. Of some 300,000 refugees resettled
since 1975, the United States has taken over 200,000 and we
are currently committed to taking an additional 7,000 per month.
This is not to say that others have not shared this burden.
They have, and indeed, on a per capita basis, the Australians
have resettled more refugees than have we.Nevertheless, the
staggering numbers of refugees now scrambling ashore in South-
east Asia, swelling the numbers already there, requires all
nations to do more. The Japanese, for example, have been
stepping up their financial contributions to the refugee resettle-
ment efforts of the UNHCR and other organizations as well as
for the newly approved refugee resettlement center in Indonesia.
They have also agreed to resettle their first small group of
refugees. We are working with them and we hope that they will.
be able to do even more. Nations in Europe like France and
Germany and our Canadian neighbors have been forthcoming in
their response to this international crisis, but we hope that
they too can do more. We are exploring means to resettle
refugees in other areas, like Latin America, and in particular
are looking at the feasibility of a suggestion you made,
Mr. Chairman, about the possibility of international financial
institution funds being channeled to dev elopment projects
for refugee resettlement in these areas.