14 April 2003
U.S. Statement on Refugees in Iraq, Balkans, Chechnya
(April 8, Vienna: Douglas Davidson to OSCE Permanent Council) (1040)
The United States is concerned about the humanitarian plight of people
in Iraq, the Balkans, and Chechnya and Ingushetia, said Douglas A.
Davidson, deputy chief of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE.
Davidson was responding to a report April 8 by Ruud Lubbers, the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Regarding Iraq, Davidson noted that the United States has long been
concerned about the human rights violations of Saddam Hussein's regime
and has taken "unprecedented steps to limit the adverse humanitarian
consequences of a conflict with Iraq and to provide relief as quickly
as possible to the Iraqi people."
The United States is making available 670,000 metric tons of food with
a total value of $549 million, he said, and the U.S. Agency for
International Development is donating $246 million in non-food aid.
Regarding the Balkans, Davidson said the United States is "engaged
actively in facilitating the return of displaced persons." Despite
progress, more than 1 million refugees and displaced persons in
South-Eastern Europe "still await a durable solution to their plight,
the largest concentration of displaced persons being hosted by Serbia
and Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina."
According to UNHCR data, he said, over 200,000 persons should be given
the opportunity to return to Croatia, the same number to Kosovo, and
100,000 to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"The United States also has serious concerns over the situation of
displaced persons in Chechnya and Ingushetia," Davidson said. He
suggested that the OSCE undertake a joint project with UNHCR to
provide internally displaced persons "with the necessary legal
assistance to understand their rights and obtain the benefits to which
they are entitled."
Following is a transcript of Davidson's statement:
(begin transcript)
United States Mission to the OSCE
Vienna
April 8, 2003
RESPONSE TO UNHCR RUUD LUBBERS
Delivered by Deputy Chief of Mission Douglas A. Davidson to the
Permanent Council
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Let me join the others in welcoming the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees to the Permanent Council today. We
appreciate his very thoughtful intervention as well as the excellent
cooperation that UNHCR maintains with the United States.
Mr. Chairman, I should like to begin today, as Mr. Lubbers himself
did, with a few thoughts on the humanitarian situation in Iraq. I know
that this issue weighs heavily on the minds of many around this table.
The United States feels deep concern for the humanitarian problems of
the people of Iraq and has long been concerned about the violations of
human rights that they have for so long suffered at the hands of
Saddam Hussein's regime, which is the very situation that Mr. Lubbers
notes, which forced many of them to seek asylum across the OSCE area.
Over the last several months, the United States has taken
unprecedented steps to limit the adverse humanitarian consequences of
a conflict with Iraq and to provide relief as quickly as possible to
the Iraqi people. We are working closely in this regard with the
United Nations, which has a lead role in coordinating and providing
humanitarian assistance.
As Mr. Lubbers notes, the events in Iraq do not appear to have
resulted yet in significant numbers of IDPs (internally displaced
persons) or refugees. Indeed, the IDP situation in the North is
stabilizing, with recent reports of people returning to their homes.
Nonetheless, the United States has pre-positioned stockpiles of
emergency supplies, including food, medical kits, blankets and shelter
materials. This is the largest such relief preparations we have ever
undertaken.
We are making available for this purpose 670,000 metric tons of food
with a total value of $549 million. In addition, the United States
Agency for International Development is donating $246 million in
non-food aid.
Of the funds provided by USAID and the U.S. State Department's Bureau
for Population, Refugees and Migration, almost $125 million is going
to the United Nations and other international organizations to address
the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people, of which UNHCR will
receive $21 million.
Mr. Chairman, even as we focus our attention on alleviating the needs
of the Iraqi people, the United States will not lose sight of other,
just as urgent, humanitarian problems in the OSCE region.
The OSCE decision to grant Partner Status to Afghanistan is a
significant opportunity for the OSCE and its institutions to help
contribute to the security, stability, and economic reconstruction
that are needed to encourage the safe and dignified return of
displaced Afghan citizens.
We are also engaged actively in facilitating the return of displaced
persons in the Balkans. While there has been much progress in that
region, more than 1 million refugees and displaced persons in
South-Eastern Europe still await a durable solution to their plight,
the largest concentration of displaced persons being hosted by Serbia
and Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to UNHCR data, over 200,000 persons should be given the
opportunity to return to Croatia, with approximately the same number
to Kosovo, and another 100,000 should be given the opportunity to
return to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Mr. Chairman, the United States also has serious concerns over the
situation of displaced persons in Chechnya and Ingushetia. We believe
the OSCE has a valuable and continuing role to play in assisting
displaced persons there. One possible future joint project with UNHCR
would be to provide the IDPs with the necessary legal assistance to
understand their rights and obtain the benefits to which they are
entitled.
In closing Mr. Chairman, I should like to compliment Mr. Lubbers on
the very useful and informative informal briefing on Statelessness
that the UNHCR Liaison Office provided to us here last year. May I
suggest that it could be similarly productive for UNHCR to organize
another such briefing, perhaps focusing on its views of the role of
OSCE in addressing the needs of refugees and IDPs. Once again, the
United States greatly appreciates the hard work of your staff here in
Vienna and those working with the OSCE in the field. They contribute
greatly to the good relations between our two organizations.
Thank you.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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