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Advocacy Update
March 2005
A Refugee
by Any Other Name Still Deserves Protection
By Bernadette Passade
Cissé, Vice President for Policy and Advocacy, and Florentina
Chiu, Director, Policy and Advocacy Department
2005 began with the introduction of legislation
that resurrected an all too familiar name game. In promoting
legislation introduced by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), some
lawmakers characterized people fleeing persecution as illegal
migrants and possible terrorists. At the same time Rep. Sensenbrenner
and others supported President Bush's goal of increasing refugee
resettlement to 70,000 by 2006.
This contradiction, mischaracterizing some
of those fleeing persecution, yet recognizing that resettlement
should be expanded for others, undermines the development of
sound, consistent national policies regarding refugees. And
it is one of the reasons why LIRS is determined to engage our
partners on both asylum and resettlement issues in an integrated
manner. One way to achieve this ideal is to expose the misuse
of inappropriate terms to better serve refugees. A refugee whether
arriving by boat, airplane or foot, from whatever country of
origin and whether or not he or she has languished in a refugee
camp for years is still a refugee and meets a very specific
definition.
Refugees whether they are called asylum seekers,
asylees or illegal migrants, are people with a legal right to
live with specific freedoms. This month LIRS and our partners
expressed our view that pending anti-asylum legislation violates
American values and would hurt refugees. This advocacy, which
exposed the fact that the legislation does not target terrorists,
but targets those fleeing persecution, is accompanied by our
advocacy for increased funding to ensure adequate protection
for refugees, whether they begin new productive lives through
asylum or resettlement.
We have seen in the past years an evolution
of thinking both nationally and within the Office of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) regarding resettlement
reforms, but have also seen how U.S. resettlement expenses have
escalated. The most significant increases in expenses have been
identifying new groups of refugees for resettlement and completing
their security clearances. The Department of State currently
has funding to admit fewer than 42,000 refugees this year, and
needs at least an additional $20 million to admit as many as
entered last year-over 52,000. LIRS's recent fact-finding mission
to Thailand and Malaysia will continue to inform our positions
on refugee groups we hope will be resettled to the United States
in the coming years.
While the president's request for increased
funding to resettle 70,000 refugees in fiscal year 2006 is a
positive development, we will continue to work with the U.S.
government in also considering policy and programmatic changes
to help refugees seeking free and productive lives in our communities.
Whether or not there is a funding increase in this or the next
year, we will continue to advocate for the best use of resources
to better protect refugees through asylum and resettlement by
advocating for the following:
- Removal of the annual restriction on the numbers of asylees
who can adjust to legal permanent resident status
- Protection of larger numbers of refugee children in need
of resettlement
- Reunification of refugee families in the United States regardless
of nationality
- Broader access to procedures that determine refugee status
Read past Advocacy/Washington Updates.
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