and viable solution, the U.S. admissions program should also be prepared to resettle a portion of this group.

In addition to the resettlement needs for refugees directly related to the Gulf war, the U.S. must also maintain adequate programs for two groups of refugees historically included in the admissions program.

The agencies note that conditions inside Iran seem to be improving and the exodus of Iranian Christians, Bahʼai, and Jews has slowed. Despite this trend, however, there remain large numbers of Iranian refugees under priorities one through four who have fled and are in asylum either in Western Europe or South Asia. The agencies, therefore, recommend that at least 1,500 numbers be made available for Iranian refugees in FY92.

We also note with concern that processing for Afghan refugees in Pakistan is now limited to priority one. We recognize that the international community is placing large hopes on the repatriation efforts for Afghans, and that this should be the first option, but we also urge that the U.S. monitor the situation inside Afghanistan very carefully and be prepared to further expand the numbers and processing guidelines should the need arise. We further recommend that 4,000 admissions numbers be used in FY92 to process the existing pipeline of qualified Afghan applicants.

With regards to South Asia, there are currently tens of thousands of Sri Lankan displaced persons and refugees located in Sri Lanka and in southern India. Reports from church leaders and the media indicate that violence, human rights violations, and brutal forms of torture are an increasingly common occurrence. The agencies strongly recommend that the U.S. monitor the needs of these refugees and initiate processing opportunities to resettle those whose lives are in serious danger and or those who have ties to the U.S.

SOVIET UNION

For FY1992, the agencies recommend an admissions level of 50,000 for this program, including 40,000 for Soviet Jews, plus additional fully-funded numbers to make-up any FY1991 shortfall.

While external relations between the Soviet Union and other countries are becoming less adversarial, internal politics and conditions remain extremely confused and unpredictable. At both the national and local level, reformers and conservatives continue to struggle for leadership and control over the country's future. Economic conditions are spiraling downward at

an alarming rate. Nationalist tensions continue to boil over in many regions, from the Baltic States to Azerbaijan. And through it all, a deep sense of skepticism and pessimism pervades the diverse Soviet societies.

Within this fragile environment, Soviet Jews, Evangelical Christians, Armenians, Ukrainian and Orthodox Catholics, and other ethnic minorities continue to be subject to persecution. The United States must, despite the passage of the Soviet Free Emigration Act which is not effective until 1993, continue to provide adequate admissions numbers for all these groups in FY92. It is unclear what, if any, short-term impact this Act will have, and the needs of all potential Soviet refugees must be safeguarded.

The agencies greatly appreciate the efforts undertaken in establishing and expanding the mechanisms to process Soviet refugees during the course of FY91. The institutionalization of the Washington Processing Center (WPC) and SPATE have allowed an unprecedented number of qualified persons to register for resettlement. While administrative and bureaucratic problems have caused massive backlogs of applicants, we are sensitive to the enormity of the entire system, and will continue to work with both the WPC and SPATE in reducing processing times and overall numbers of backlogged cases.

The climate for Soviet Jews has not improved; the current levels of turmoil, combined with rising levels of blatant anti-semitism and a willingness to treat Jews as the scapegoat for the political, social, and economic ills that have befallen the country, continue to make Jewish resettlement an absolute priority for the U.S. Government admissions program.

While Israel is, and should be, the primary destination for Soviet Jews, it is essential that those with family ties to the United States be allowed to resettle to the U.S. The agencies, therefore, strongly recommend that 40,000 fully-funded numbers be allocated for Soviet Jews for the U.S. admissions program in FY92.

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We also are concerned that the number of Jewish and other Soviet refugees slated for arrival in the U.S. during FY91 is expected to fall significantly short of the 50,000 that were expected. stated earlier, we recognize that this shortfall is due to delays engendered by the Soviet emigration system, not through the fault of the U.S. or the refugees themselves. We urge, therefore, that Jewish and other Soviet refugee admissions numbers unable to be used during FY91 be added on to the FY92 admissions totals, as is currently being advocated by the Department of State and Congress.

In addition to Jews, a number of other groups warrant continued attention for U.S. admissions. While recent legislative changes broadening religious freedoms within the Soviet Union may affect numbers of Evangelical Christians applying to emigrate in the future, there remain some 8,000 - 12,000 of this group who have already been forced to make that choice. Many of these cases are already in the WPC/SPATE pipeline and will have been INS adjudicated by the end of FY92 or early FY93 at the current rate. The fact that many Evangelicals already approved by the United States government often find themselves at the mercy of arbitrary decisions of local immigration officials to grant exit permission has heightened the reality of persecution and harassment within this small sector of the community. It has also created a backlog of travel ready individuals included in the numbers above. We urge that at least 6,000 of these be admitted during FY92. We also urge that the admissions program retain sufficient flexibility to accommodate any potential reversal of the current trend toward freedom of religious expression.

Various ethnic minorities within the Soviet republics continue to deserve close attention, notably the Armenians. Recent Western media reports indicate that more than 50 have been killed and some 40,000 up-rooted in the latest round of pogroms. The preponderance of the more than 300,000 Armenians who have fled pogroms in Azerbaijan have gone to the Republic of Armenia with the intention of permanently resettling there. Due to the continued impact of the earthquake, the Azerbaijani blockade of Armenia, and the central government's inability to fulfill its commitments to earthquake reconstruction and refugee assistance, a small number of these are now registering for U.S. processing and resettlement as refugees. If these root causes are not addressed through international action, the number may substantially increase.

Others, in much smaller numbers, have fled Azerbaijan to areas outside Armenia but within the Soviet Union. After receiving token initial support from the central government, these individuals are now totally cut off and have no alternative within the current Soviet system, and so must seek Western resettlement.

The INS review of Azerbaijan Armenians rejected for refugee status in 1990 will be completed soon. To accommodate those in this group who will depart in FY92, and the Armenian refugees described above, roughly 4,000 refugee admissions will be required in FY92.

Like Jewish and Evangelical Christians, Ukrainian Catholics and Orthodox also have a long history of persecution, based on their religion, national heritage, and growing desire for selfdetermination. While the Ukrainian Catholic Church is now legal, problems and harassment still remain. Few if any avenues of

recourse exist for their legal rights or protection. For these reasons, we urge the Administration to give greater attention to this population and that sufficient admissions numbers be set aside to resettle those Ukrainian and Orthodox Catholics who are most in need.

REFUGEES AT SPECIAL RISK

For FY1992, the agencies recommend an admissions level of 1,500 for this category.

In light of the growing size and diversity of the world's refugee population, the agencies recognize that the U.S. refugee admissions programs is increasingly faced with a daunting mission: Ensuring adequate admissions levels for refugee groups of noted historical and humanitarian concern to the United States while maintaining sufficient flexibility to respond to the myriad of refugees world-wide -- entire groups and individual cases for whom resettlement is the only available option. We applaud the efforts of the government over the years in extending help and resettlement to countless numbers of refugees who fall outside the normal processing guidelines, and we acknowledge the invaluable assistance of the UNHCR in helping to identify and facilitate the resettlement of these refugees.

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In order to enhance this badly needed capacity, the agencies recommend that 1,500 fully-funded admissions numbers be allocated in FY92 to be used, irrespective of geographical location, for those cases identified by the UNHCR.

To facilitate the processing of these cases, we also urge that the U.S. processing guidelines and priorities be formally expanded to include this category of cases. Thus an asylum applicant referred under this category becomes immediately eligible for processing if otherwise eligible. Since this category is intended to provide a world-wide pool of numbers available to the UNHCR for qualified refugee applicants, the referral would have to come directly from UNHCR Geneva in order to balance priorities between geographic regions and cases of Such numbers would not be used if normal country urgency. resettlement options are open to the asylum seeker in question on a timely basis.

For the calendar year 1992, unofficial UNHCR estimates show that upwards of 55,000 refugees under their protection will require resettlement to a third country. Currently, many of those identified are not included in the resettlement countries' collective resettlement guidelines and priorities. By expanding the U.S. guidelines and priorities to formally include these cases and setting a new humanitarian standard for the rest of the world to follow, the U.S. would be helping to establish a new framework to resolve the plight of many of these UNHCR identified

cases.