-4

TABLE II

PROPOSED U.S. REFUGEE ADMISSIONS IN FY 1992

The President proposes to respond to the humanitarian needs of refugees by establishing for FY 1992 an admissions ceiling of 144,000 refugees for permanent resettlement in the United States.

*Includes Amerasian immigrants and their families who enter as immigrants under a special statutory provision but receive benefits as refugees.

-5

Further to the table of proposed U.S. refugee admissions in FY 1992 (Table I), the President also proposes to specify that special circumstances exist so that, for the purpose of admission under the limits established above and pursuant to section 101(a)(42)(B) of the INA, certain persons, if they otherwise qualify for admission, may be considered as refugees of special humanitarian concern to the United States even though they are still within their countries of nationality or habitual residence. The proposed designations for FY 1992 are:

-

-

Persons in Vietnam;

Persons in Laos;

Persons in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean; and

In addition to the proposed admission of refugees from abroad, The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) will be authorized to adjust to permanent resident alien status 10,000 persons who have been granted asylum in the United States and have been in the United States for at least one year, pursuant to Section 209 (b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

In the regional descriptions which follow, an overview of refugee-generating conditions is provided. In addition, voluntary repatriation, resettlement within the region, and third country resettlement opportunities are mentioned. There is also reference to refugee resettlement by countries other than the United States. More detailed information and statistics are found in the companion World Refugee Report.

B. RESETTLEMENT NEEDS IN FY 1992

-6

1. Africa

An estimated five million persons fleeing conflict and violence in Africa have sought refuge in neighboring countries. In the Horn of Africa, civil conflicts and drought conditions have generated two million refugees in Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti. The largest movements of people occurred in early 1991 · when 300,000-400,000 Somali and Ethiopian refugees fled from Somalia to Ethiopia. The recent change in government in Ethiopia is causing outflows of Sudanese and Somali refugees back to their respective countries, as well as new outflows of Ethiopian refugees. Over 110,000 Sudanese refugees arrived in Zaire in 1990-91. In Southern Africa, nearly 1.5 million Mozambican refugees are in the neighboring countries of Malawi, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and South Africa. In addition, some 425,000 Angolans and 35,000 - 40,000 South Africans remain outside their country of origin.

The Liberia crisis, which began in December 1989, generated large-scale population shifts in West Africa in 1990 and 1991. As of June 1991, over 750,000 Liberians had sought refuge in Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, and Sierra Leone. In April and May 1991, Liberian rebel incursions into Sierra Leone displaced thousands of Sierra Leoneans and disrupted the refugee relief program for an estimated 125,000 Liberian refugees. Over 100,000 people have recently fled into Guinea because of

these incursions.

Voluntary Repatriation. Tens of thousands of Somali and Sudanese refugees are returning home precipitously due to unsettled conditions in Ethiopia. Likewise, most Ethiopian refugees in Somalia were forced to return to Ethiopia when civil conflict in Somalia prevented further international assistance. On a positive note, we are hopeful that long-staying Ethiopian refugees in Sudan may now be able to return home. We are also hopeful that the recent ceasefire accords in Angola and progress in the negotiation process in South Africa will create conditions for these refugee groups to begin returning home in 1991. While the Mozambican peace process continues, we do not believe that security conditions will permit massive repatriation of Mozambican refugees in 1991.

Resettlement Within the Region. The generosity of African people and governments in granting refuge to neighbors in distress is noteworthy. However, the increasingly large numbers of persons seeking refuge are creating serious social and economic burdens on developing nations, making it difficult for them to continue without major and continuing help from others. Where early repatriation does not appear likely and resettlement is not an option, help is needed to speed economic integration, enhance the self-sufficiency of refugee groups, and ease the

-7

Third Country Resettlement. Despite the usually generous asylum policies found within Africa, there are refugees who require resettlement outside the region. They are, generally, either political dissidents who are not welcome in neighboring countries, or urban refugees not easily assimilated into the predominantly rural economies of countries of first asylum. Since 1980, over 26,000 African refugees have been resettled in the United States. Smaller numbers have been resettled in Canada, Australia, Scandinavia, and Western Europe.

U.S. Admissions

Proposed Ceiling. The proposed admissions ceiling for African refugees for FY 1992 is 6,000.

The FY 1991 admissions ceiling for Africa was 4,900 -- a 30 percent increase over FY 1990 actual admissions of 3,500 and a 70 percent increase over the original FY 1990 African ceiling. As of July 31, some 2,914 African refugees had been admitted, less than would have been possible had the Gulf War not intervened.

Extraordinary efforts are being made to move as many as possible of the INS-approved cases before the end of FY 1991. However, processing from the largest processing post in Africa -- Khartoum was suspended in January when the U.S. Embassy was evacuated. At that time there were over 5,000 refugees pending INS interview in Khartoum and 1,000 approved and pending departure. Now that the post has reopened and the voluntary agency responsible for processing is back in place, we expect to move all of the INS approved cases before the end of the fiscal year. It is hoped that at least some of those approved during the June INS circuit ride can also be admitted during FY 1991.

There are a total of some 8,000 Africans now awaiting INS interview. Allowing for additional applications, especially where new processing of Liberians will soon commence in West Africa, we project a need for 6,000 numbers for FY 1992.

Designated Nationalities. The following African nationalities are designated as nationalities of particular humanitarian concern for FY 1992: Angolans, Ethiopians, Liberians, Mozambicans, Somalians, South Africans, Sudanese, Ugandans, and Zairians. With the exception of Sudanese and Ugandans, this list remains the same as that in effect in FY 1991. Posts authorized to process refugees may evaluate the cases of persons of these nationalities and make a recommendation to the INS circuit rider without seeking authorization from the Department of State. In addition, in light of the volatile political and ethnic circumstances in many African countries, posts will continue to be authorized to process nationals of any African country referred to the U.S. program by UNHCR, as well as those who have received prior approval from Washington.

Processing Priorities. Processing priorities one through six are in effect for Africans everywhere with three exceptions. They are: a) in the Sudan, applicants in priorities one through five are accepted; b) Africans outside of Africa are processed in priorities one through five and must have arrived in the country of first asylum prior to July 1, 1988; and c) in West Africa processing of priorities one through three

for Liberians.

-8

2. East Asia

First Asylum. There are over 110,000 Indochinese asylum seekers in first asylum camps in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. In addition to its camp population of Vietnamese and Lao, Thailand continues to bear the burden of approximately 330,000 displaced persons from Cambodia who await repatriation after a comprehensive political settlement in their homeland. Thailand also hosts several thousand displaced Burmese, including some 1,000-2,000 dissident students who have fled their country. The past year has been marked by a continued dramatic drop in boat arrivals in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. Arrivals in the ASEAN countries were down 87 percent when comparing the first 4 months of 1991 with the same period in 1990. In Hong Kong, however, arrivals in the first five months of 1991 were 8,597 compared to 2,253 during the first five months of 1990.

Vietnamese asylum seekers are processed under the provisions of the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) adopted by over 50 nations at the International Conference on Indochinese Refugees (ICIR) in Geneva June 13-14, 1989. The CPA reaffirms both the practice of first asylum and international commitments to generous resettlement policies. The CPA calls for the expansion of legal emigration and institutes a screening program to identify bonafide Vietnamese boat refugees. With the exception of Malaysia, the right of boat people to arrive on shore and seek asylum is recognized by the Southeast Asian nations and Hong Kong.

In Thailand, the 330,000 Khmer living in the border encampments are considered to be displaced persons, and they are expected to eventually return to Cambodia. Although the United States does not generally have access to border Khmer for refugee consideration, access has been granted to several hundred persons whose close relatives in the United States filed immigrant visa petitions on their behalf. For those border Khmer whose visa petitions are not current, INS will consider granting humanitarian parole. Over 2,600 border Khmer have received immigrant visas or parole since 1986. The resettlement countries have not generally been granted access to Cambodians who arrived by boat in Indonesia or Malaysia.

Voluntary Repatriation. Under the terms of the CPA, asylum seekers who do not have valid refugee claims will not be processed for third country resettlement. They are encouraged to return voluntarily to Vietnam under a UNHCR program. As of June 1991, over 7,000 persons had voluntarily returned to Vietnam from Hong Kong and another 2,000 persons had voluntarily returned from the first asylum camps in ASEAN countries. Voluntary returnees are monitored by the UNHCR in Vietnam to ensure their safety.

Since September 1980, a UNHCR voluntary repatriation program has existed to facilitate the return of ethnic Lao, Hmong and other highlanders to Laos from Thailand. Laos has agreed to accept more than 300 returnees per month. There are several reception centers for returnees in Laos, and UNHCR monitors the returnees