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refugees located far from processing posts in Africa, and those who have been stranded in Europe for several years;
an increased admissions ceiling for the Near East and South Asia to allow for admissions of those fleeing religious persecution and Soviet occupation;
and an unallocated reserve, intended to give the administration The Flexibility to respond to critical admissions needs that are unpredictable.
As a preamble to a discussion and justification of the proposed refugee ceiling, I would like to reflect on what we have accomplished in our refugee programs in recent years, and the way in which we have been able to achieve these objectives
Mr. Chairman, the beginning of fiscal year 1981 marks a suitable starting point for such a review. It coincided with the election of President Reagan, and it followed by only a short interval the major refugee shocks of the previous decade: the massive exodus of boat refugees from Vietnam and land refugees from Cambodia and Laos; the flood of refugees into Somalia; and the arrival on our shores of some 150,000 Cuban and Haitian "entrants" in April of 1980. The refugee flight from Afghanistan was well underway a movement of men, women, and children that soon reached close to five million people, nearly three million of them in Pakistan alone.
During the six years of this administration, total expenditures for refugee aid administered by the State Department have exceeded 2,500 million dollars. In that time more than 500,000 refugees have been admitted into the United States. There can be no doubt that America has done its share and more to aid those refugees who have been forced to leave their homelands because of persecution.
An American Tradition
It is a historic tradition for the American people to respond to refugee problems. Our national celebration at the re-dedication of the Statue of Liberty reminded us of the spirit of welcome which has inspired generations of immigrants and refugees to seek new lives in this country.
Our longstanding tradition of help for refugees was brought home for me in another way recently by a State Department publication describing our refugee programs. At the end there was a list of the private voluntary agencies 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 30 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 able 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 soeks humane alternative solutions to their plight.
At the last U.N. General Assembly, a new high commissioner for refugees was elected Jean-Pierre Hocke' of Switzerland. He brings new leadership and direction to one of the most responsible and demanding positions in the U.N. system. His election demonstrates that the United Nations can act positively and effectively to achieve humanitarian objectives, in the spirit intended by its founders.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has also grown in the scope and importance of its responsibilities during the past decade. With its partners, the League of Red Cross Socielies and the national societies of many concerned countries, the ICRC has long
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