-2 contributed an additional $6 million to other international organizations assisting refugees and displaced persons in the former Yugoslavia: $5 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross and $1 million to UNICEF. We are planning to provide an additional cash contribution shortly. Beginning on July 3, the U.S. joined other nations under UN auspices in conducting a daily airlift of humanitarian relief supplies to Sarajevo, averaging several flights daily. As of August 13, 665 flights had delivered a total of 8,305 metric tons of food and medicine to Sarajevo. flew 103 of these flights. U.S. military planes Question Question for the Record submitted to Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Affairs Liberian Refugees. Although there is a ceasefire to the bloody civil war, conditions do not permit a UNHCR-organized repatriation program, and more than 660,000 Liberians remain refugees. Many of these people have spouses, parents, and other close relatives in the United States. Your testimony seems to indicate that we estimate a reduction in the number of Liberian admissions for FY 1993. How can we consider phasing out our limited Liberian program, as you have described on page 6 of your testimony, when repatriation is not yet feasible and when such a large number of Liberians remain refugees? Answer Because representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) were present in the refugee camps from the beginning of the Liberian crisis, and American caseworkers only arrived in West Africa in May 1991, we built our resettlement program on referrals from UNHCR. By the end of May 1992, we had received a definitive list of 2,250 UNHCR-referred refugees, many of whom have spouses, parents or children in the United States in permanent status. UNHCR also referred some vulnerable cases of siblings which have been presented to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for interview. Unfortunately, some cases referred by UNHCR lacked evidence of relationship and will not be presented to INS. As the population of Liberian refugees is fairly stable and no new referrals were received from UNHCR during June and July, we believe we have prepared case files on all Liberian refugees -2 who meet the criteria of our limited refugee processing program. As of July 31, 1992, 753 Liberian refugees have been approved for resettlement in the U.S. and will arrive in FY-92. Another INS circuit ride scheduled for September expects to yield an additional 400 refugees who will arrive in FY-93. The voluntary agency contracted to prepare refugee case files will remain in West Africa through December 1992; any appropriate cases which come to our attention after that date will be handled either by UNHCR or by embassies in the region. 60-250 - 93 - 7 Question for the Record submitted to Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Affairs Question Strife in Somalia. There is a growing number of internally displaced persons in Africa often estimated as high as 15 - million people who are primarily women and children. Understanding that internationally (sic) displaced are often those who would be refugees if they could cross the borders but are often trapped within conflict zones, creating security and logistical barriers to effective delivery of humanitarian assistance (sic). - What policy discussions are taking place to address this growing problem? You testified that you expected the number of refugees from The number of Somalian refugees you expect in FY 1993 The number of Somalian refugees you expect to be admitted Answer Humanitarian relief for the internally displaced in Africa has generally been handled by private voluntary organizations where people have congregated in camps in safe areas. Where conflict victims have been cut off from normal relief routes by fighting, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has provided emergency aid, usually after complex negotiations with the contending parties. No single United Nations Agency has a specific mandate to protect and assist internally displaced persons; in contrast, refugees (those who have crossed international borders owing to a well-founded fear of persecution) are the special mandate of the UNHCR. -2 The numbers of people displaced by conflict are indeed growing; and it would appear that opposing parties are more frequently abusing the basic human rights of the civilian displaced, ignoring principles of neutral humanitarian assistance (including those embodied in the Geneva conventions). In view of the growing suffering and the apparent hardening of government and insurgent attitudes on humanitarian assistance, both the Economic and Social Council and the Commission on Human Rights of the United Nations have called for analyses of how the U.N. system can better protect and assist the internally displaced. A report was presented last year proposing a more holistic and integrated approach to political (conflict resolution), humanitarian, and developmental aspects of the internally displaced, refugees, and returnees. One rather direct result of the study and discussion was the creation of the new U.N. Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs along with a Central Emergency Revolving Fund of $50 million and a Department of Humanitarian Affairs that has subsumed the old Office of the U.N. Disaster Relief Coordinator (UNDRO). This year, the countries (and factions) of the Horn of Africa held a summit in Addis Ababa at which a declaration of humanitarian principles was enunciated. The USG played a key |