NO. 179
4
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cooperating in providing refugee assistance.
The list seemed
familiar, although some of the agencies had slightly different
names and addressees.
Then I looked at the date of the
pamphlet. It was 1956, and the subject was the Hungarian
refugee crisis of that October just thirty years ago. The
voluntary agencies and our refugee programs have been around a
long time; they carry on a tradition today in which we can take
great pride.
Multilateral Approach
An integral part of that tradition has been our leadership
in advancing an international, multilateral approach to the
resolution of refugee situations. We have consistently taken
the lead in working to strengthen international mechanisms to
deal with the expanding scope of refugee problems:
--The program and office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) grew five-fold in the
past decade in response to the increase both in the number
of refugee crises, and in the absolute numbers of refugees
world-wide. By a conservative count, there are now more
than ten million refugees living outside their native lands
and unable to return. On every continent the UNHCR stands
as the first line of defense for refugees: it speaks out
for their protection; it provides for their care and
maintenance; it seeks humane alternative solutions to their
plight.