The SRV objects to having U.S. officials visit HCMC to interview and approve persons for admission to the United States. We believe that such interviews in Vietnam are necessary to move significant numbers of persons as refugees to the United States. We have been able to accept relatively few on the Air France flights who have had adequate documentation to be issued immigrant visas after being interviewed in Bangkok. Question: Regarding the Indochinese refugee situation: What new diplomatic initiatives are being taken Answer: In We have just returned from the May meeting in Geneva on humanitarian assistance and relief for Kampuchea. addition to pledging an additional $116 million in new aid for the balance of 1980, the conference urged the SRV and their PRK allies to remove the obstacles to adequate distribution within Kampuchea of the assistance currently being provided. In spite of signs that conditions are again worsening, we are hopeful that the relief effort can avert severe famine and that Khmer farmers will be able to plant sufficient rice and other food crops to alleviate food shortages by the end of 1980. Question: Answer: Regarding Haitians and Cubans arriving directly Interim asylum regulations were promulgated effective June 1, as required by the Refugee Act. They followed the legislative intent and provide that the INS district director will initially review asylum applications. The regulations were also published for public comment on that date, and all such comments will be considered before final regulations are promulgated. Questions submitted by Senator Thurmond 1. What steps has the Administration taken to enlist world support for "first asylum countries" which receive the initial influx of refugees? 2. What factors has the State Department taken into account on deciding which refugees seeking resettlement in the United States will be admitted? (For example, Russian Jews versus Indochinese, or Cubans versus Haitians.) 3. Of the 332,000 Indochinese admitted to the United States as of March 31, 1980, over one-half have settled in the States of California, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington. Obviously, this is creating an unequal burden on these States. Why is this pattern of resettlement occurring and what can be done to correct it? 4. Nearly $1.7 billion is budgeted for refugee settlement this year and $2.1 billion for next year. Can we expect those costs to keep going up at a similar rate in future years, even assuming the same rate of increase in refugees? In other words, are there any fixed costs associated with refugee resettlement? 5. 6. Is the Administration asking for any increased funds in the form of a supplemental appropriations request? What efforts are being taken to get other countries to resettle refugees? Question: Answer: What steps has the Administration taken to enlist world support for "first asylum countries" which receive the initial influx of refugees? In respect to Indochina last year, the U.S. Government urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to convene a conference to relieve the financial and other burdens on first asylum countries in Southeast Asia created by the growing refugee population. As a demonstration of our own interest in the area, President Carter pledged to double the rate of Indochinese resettlement from 7,000 to 14,000 refugees per month. Our commitment undoubtedly helped make the Geneva meeting on Indochinese refugees called by UN Secretary General Waldheim last July extremely productive, both in short and long term. Resettlement offers more than doubled from 130,000 to almost 290,000, and the meeting also produced some $160 million in new financial commitments to the UNHCR. Of particular significance was Japan's pledge to contribute 50 percent of the 1979 UNHCR Indochinese refugee program budget (we hope Japan will meet that level again this year). Equally important, the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) informed Waldheim that it would stem what it called "illegal departures" from Vietnam for a "reasonable period of time." But the troubling fact is that the future of this situation remains unclear. Since January 1978, there has been a steady flow of land refugees, averaging 5,300 monthly, into Thailand. In Vietnam, boats are available for clandestine departures, despite the threat of punishment and the dangers of the sea. Occasional reports that the Vietnamese are about to resume large-scale assisted departures like those of early 1979 have not proved accurate, but large numbers of people remain anxious and even desperate to leave the country. The UN High Commissioner, Paul Hartling, has pressed the resettlement countries to review the pledges they made at Geneva. In support of the High Commissioner's appeal, the U.S. Coordinator has also asked the governments that attended the July Geneva meeting to reaffirm their resettlement offers. (See also answer to question 6 and attached resettlement report.) |