*Figures are based on the Administration's budget request for FY 1993, for the funded admission of up to 122,000 refugees. At the time this report was prepared, Congress had not completed action on this request.

United States Department of State

Washington, D.C.

20520

September 10, 1992

Dear Mr. Chairman:

Following the July 23, 1992 hearing at which Mr. Lawrence S. Eableburger testified, additional questions were submitted for the record. Please find enclosed the responses to those

questions.

Sincerely,

Steven Berry

Steven K. Berry

Acting Assistant Secretary
Legislative Affairs

Enclosures:

As stated.

The Honorable

Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman,

Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Affairs,

Committee on the Judiciary,

United States Senate.

FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS SUBMITTED PURSUANT TO

DEPUTY SECRETARY EAGLEBURGER'S

TESTIMONY BEFORE THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

ON JULY 23, 1992

Please provide information on demining operations in Angola, Cambodia and El Salvador.

(Cambodia)

The USG has provided $2 million to demine and repair Route 69

in northwestern Cambodia in order to facilitate the repatriation of Khmer refugees and displaced persons from

Thailand. More than 60 kilometers

-

or about half of the

have been completed thus far under direct

USAID supervision.

We have also provided $200,000 to Handicap International for the hiring of UN-trained Cambodian deminers to clear mines in

Additionally, we anticipate making a further contribution of several millions of dollars in response to a recent UN appeal for assistance to the Cambodian Mine Action Center which will be responsible for overall demining efforts in Cambodia, even after the transitional period.

Apart from USG assistance, Thailand has also made a substantial contribution to the demining effort. It has provided two engineering battalions to demine and repair major roads in western Cambodia to facilitate repatriation.

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(ANGOLA)

Under the terms of the Angola peace accords,

responsibility for demining was assigned to joint Angolan government/UNITA teams. These teams presently operate with training and logistical assistance from, among others, South Africa, Germany and the United Kingdom. As these countries have concentrated on demining assistance, the U.S. generally has directed its resources to other priorities in Angola. Nevertheless, in our contribution to the UNHCR Repatriation Appeal the U.S. expressed a preference that $500,000 be used for demining activities. While most main roads in Angola are now demined, many secondary and country road are still mined and dangerous.

(CENTRAL AMERICA)

The U.S. has assumed a leading role in fostering the Partnership for Democracy and Development (PDD) mine-clearing project in Central America. The Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) and the Nicaraguan Army (EPS) estimate that in Nicaragua alone there are some 130,000 mines along the Pan-American highway and along the Honduran and Costa Rican

borders.

For Nicaragua, the plan envisages two-year-plus operation involving the training of about 250 EPS personnel, who will actually perform the demining. Cost estimates for the IADB are about $4 million, with additional local costs of $3-6

-3

million to be covered by the Nicaraguan government. The Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General has weighed-in with OAS member countries to solicit contributions and assitance for this humanitarian effort, and the U.S. is now approaching a number of governments worldwide in a like appeal. The U.S. plans to allocate $255,000 to the special demining fund, subject to Congressional consultation.

The IADB recently conducted a preliminary demining survey in El Salvador, Costa Rica and Honduras as a precursor to a comprehensive regional mine clearing program. In El Salvador, the FMLN complained that the IADB did not consult with it prior to the survey, and stressed that the IADB should work through ONUSAL. At the State Department's request, the Department of Defense is looking into possible means of assisting the demining effort.