TNAG-0890-FCO40-1100-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 55

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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.