Statement by Ambassador Sichan Siv, United States Representative to the United
Nations Economic and Social Council, in response to a briefing by UN High Commissioner for
Refugees Ruud Lubbers, in the Security Council, February 7, 20002
Thank you, Mr. President. I thank Mr.
Lubbers for his informative briefing. We believe that it is important for the Council
to keep abreast of refugee and humanitarian issues, which have a significant bearing on
international peace and security in many parts of the world. We appreciate Mr. Lubbers
sharing his views with us.
I would like to assure the High Commissioner of my government's support for refugee
assistance and for UNHCR. As we
enter the second half-century of the existence of both UNHCR and the Refugee Convention, it is
important that we in the international community reaffirm our commitment to the protection
and care of refugees and that we provide the support needed to do this to UNHCR.
For its part, the United States is a committed partner of UNHCR. Regrettably, UNHCR
remains constantly under-funded and has been obliged to move to a resource-based budget.
It is not acceptable to us that some refugees, particularly in Africa, are not receiving
acceptable standards of care. It is not only UNHCR that is short-funded but also the World Food Program that is beset by inadequate donor support
and breaks in the food pipeline. Refugees in some areas go for unacceptable periods of
time without food supplies. The United States will continue to provide its fair share of
funding.
Counter-Terrorism Measures and Security of Refugee Camps
We were interested to hear the High Commissioner's views on the impact of September 11
and counter-terrorism measures. While the United States has undertaken new measures to
protect our national security, we cannot and will not permit the tragic events of
September 11 to compromise our longstanding tradition of providing refuge to those in
need. We must make sure, however, that terrorists are not allowed to take advantage of the
refugee protection system. In our view, this can be prevented through scrupulous
application of the exceptions to refugee protection available under current law. We stand
ready to work with UNHCR to ensure that refugee status determination procedures and
registration methods take into account the new security measures to combat terrorism.
In this vein, we again highlight that the security of refugee camps remains a key
issue. We need to ensure that refugees are protected from attacks, from hostage-taking,
from recruitment, and from sexual and gender-based violence. We also remain concerned
about the security of humanitarian workers but welcome the steps taken to enhance
coordination between UN agencies and UNSECOORD.
Afghanistan
In Afghanistan today, it is our hope that the millions of refugees who fled, so many
years ago, will eventually be able to return home voluntarily, in safety and dignity, when
security conditions permit. It is important that, as part of the reconstruction effort, we
focus on preparing for return. We look forward to learning more about UNHCR's assessments
of return areas and preparations to ensure that assistance will be timely and adequate.
Western Sahara
We are pleased that DPKO
has funded two UNHCR international positions for the Western Sahara operation. We also
strongly support UNHCR's plans to build confidence between the two sides.
Africa
In Africa, we are still keenly concerned about the range of refugee situations. We
welcome the prospects for voluntary return in safety and dignity but caution against
premature and therefore destabilizing repatriation. We are pleased with the progress
towards peace in Sierra Leone. While we continue to support efforts to facilitate the
return of Sierra Leonean refugees who have expressed a firm desire to repatriate, we
recognize that for many the time is not yet right for repatriation. We are also concerned
about the ongoing instability in northern Liberia where tens of thousands of Liberians and
several thousand Sierra Leonean refugees have been uprooted.
We encourage the High Commissioner's interest in looking at ways to address protracted
refugee situations, to seek to make the most of refugees' resources and contributions, and
to view them as assets rather than liabilities. We urge refugee-hosting countries to
include refugees in their poverty reduction and development plans.
Refugee-hosting Countries
As a former refugee, I express particular appreciation to those countries that have
provided refuge to the millions forced to flee, not only in South Asia but also in Africa,
in Asia, and in South East Europe. Their generous hospitality and their contribution to
the international effort are not adequately recognized.