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“WORLD REFUGEE DAY 2004” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S7050-S7051 on June 18, 2004.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
WORLD REFUGEE DAY 2004
Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, from the central highlands of Vietnam to the Darfur region of Sudan, and from the Tumen river dividing North Korea and China to the roof of the world in Bhutan and Nepal, nearly 12 million people worldwide are refugees. Sunday, June 20, 2004 is World Refugee Day. This week, at events both in Washington and around the world, policymakers, advocates and concerned individuals will direct our attention to the plight of those who seek safety from persecution in their homelands.
Refugees face the most difficult of circumstances. Their stories of escape from persecution are more dramatic than anything Hollywood could script and often too horrific for most of us to imagine. Stories of unspeakable brutality, long journeys, and family separation are not the exception but the rule. Often, refugees are alive only because of a faith in God and an unshakeable will to survive.
Tragically, however, the plight of a refugee does not end with escape from persecution. Refugees frequently have nothing but their lives to bring into a new country. Most refugees would love to return to their homelands, but this is often impossible. Absent a dramatic change in conditions at home, refugees have few choices.
I am proud that the United States leads the world in one of those choices: refugee resettlement. From its founding, America has been the dream destination for the world's oppressed peoples, and that dream endures today. I want to applaud the determination of the State Department to resettle as many as 50,000 refugees this year--a significant increase over recent annual totals. I look forward to working with the State Department for the rest of this year and into the next, to return our refugee resettlement program to its historical averages and preserve America's commitment to the world's most vulnerable people.
Some might say ``Why should we bother?'' Some might ask why the United States should play such a role. But such questions are ultimately short-sighted. America's principles are never better upheld than when we assist the oppressed. American's image is nowhere better polished than in the minds of refugees who receive our assistance. And no, the United States cannot solve every refugee problem, so it should be clear that America's interests are well-served by setting an example for the rest of the world to follow.
There is much work to be done. Hundreds of thousands of refugees are fleeing the Darfur region of Sudan. They stream into Chad bringing nothing with them and finding little across the border. Within a few months, the region has become the world's most acute humanitarian crisis. The United States has already directed millions of dollars in emergency funds to this region, and as we find additional ways to respond, I hope the international community will commit itself to assisting these refugees.
In similar fashion, I hope that the international community will not allow discussions of nuclear weapons to obscure the plight of thousands of North Koreans who have fled into northeast China. Not only are they living testimonies to the brutality of the regime of Kim Jong-il, they remind us that sometimes refugees are forced to trade one set of horrors for another. China must stop forcibly repatriating North Koreans and should allow the international community to provide assistance to these people.
In other parts of the world, refugees find safe haven in camps where they await a change of conditions at home or some other long-term resolution of their exiled status. While camps are intended to be way stations, however, they too often become warehouses. Seven million of the world's 12 million refugees have lived in camps or segregated settlements for more than 10 years. Think of that: seven million people who have each forfeited a decade of human potential. The international community never intended that it be this way. The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol--signed by the United States--give refugees the right to be recognized before the law, to move freely, to earn a living, and to own property. But in many cases, these rights are not respected and the loss of human potential endures.
There are no easy solutions to the warehousing problem, but such treatment is unacceptable. I hope that as we respond to the Darfur situation and others around the world, the State Department and other members of the international community will take steps to ensure that refugees who receive our emergency assistance today will gain opportunities for self-sufficiency tomorrow.
Unfortunately, as long as there is conflict, there will be refugees. But strong United States responses to these humanitarian crises mean more than a dollar figure in the budget. When the United States emphasizes refugee assistance and refugees, it demonstrates a commitment for other nations to emulate. Truly global responses to refugee crises begin here with America's strong, compassionate leadership.
As we mark World Refugee Day 2004 this Sunday, I look forward to extending that leadership in the days ahead, and I hope my colleagues will join me in working on this crucial part of our foreign and humanitarian policy.
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