III 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 85 

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the creation of refugee populations in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf region 

as a result of human rights violations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2007 

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. LOTT, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. COLEMAN) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the creation 

of refugee populations in the Middle East, North Africa, 

and the Persian Gulf region as a result of human rights 

violations. 

Whereas armed conflicts in the Middle East have created refugee populations numbering in the hundreds of thousands and comprised of peoples from many ethnic, religious, and national backgrounds; 

Whereas Jews and other ethnic groups have lived mostly as 

minorities in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf region for more than 2,500 years; 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
2 

•SRES 85 IS 

Whereas the United States has long voiced its concern about 

the mistreatment of minorities and the violation of 

human rights in the Middle East and elsewhere; 

Whereas the United States continues to play a pivotal role in 

seeking an end to conflict in the Middle East and continues to promote a peace that will benefit all the peoples 

of the region; 

Whereas a comprehensive peace in the Middle East region 

will require the resolution of all outstanding issues 

through bilateral and multilateral negotiations involving 

all concerned parties; 

Whereas the United States has demonstrated interest and 

concern about the mistreatment, violation of rights, 

forced expulsion, and expropriation of assets of minority 

populations in general, and in particular, former Jewish 

refugees displaced from Arab countries, as evidenced 

by— 

(1) a statement made by President William J. Clinton in an interview after Camp David II in July 2000, 

at which the issue of Jewish refugees displaced from 

Arab lands was discussed, where he said that ‘‘[t]here 

will have to be some sort of international fund set up for 

the refugees. There is, I think, some interest, interestingly enough, on both sides, in also having a fund which 

compensates the Israelis who were made refugees by the 

war, which occurred after the birth of the State of Israel. 

Israel is full of people, Jewish people, who lived in predominantly Arab countries who came to Israel because 

they were made refugees in their own land.’’; 

(2) a statement made by President Carter after negotiating the Camp David Accords, the Framework for 

Peace in the Middle East, where he stated in a press conVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:29 Feb 17, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR85.IS SR85

hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
3 

•SRES 85 IS 

ference on October 27, 1977, that ‘‘Palestinians have 

rights . . . obviously there are Jewish refugees . . . they 

have the same rights as others do’’; 

(3) section 620 of H.R. 3100, 100th Congress, 

which states that Congress finds that ‘‘with the notable 

exceptions of Morocco and Tunisia, those Jews remaining 

in Arab countries continue to suffer deprivations, degradations, and hardships, and continue to live in peril’’ 

and that Congress calls upon the governments of those 

Arab countries where Jews still maintain a presence to 

guarantee their Jewish citizens full civil and human 

rights, including the right to lead full Jewish lives, free 

of fear, with freedom to emigrate if they so choose; and 

(4) Senate Resolution 76, 85th Congress, introduced 

by Senator William E. Jenner on January 29, 1957, 

which— 

(A) noted that individuals in Egypt who are 

tied by race, religion, or national origin with Israel, 

France, or the United Kingdom have been subjected 

to arrest, denial or revocation of Egyptian citizenship, expulsions, forced exile, sequestration and confiscation of assets and property, and other punishments without being charged with a crime; and 

(B) requested the President to instruct the 

chief delegate to the United Nations to urge the 

prompt dispatch of a United Nations observer team 

to Egypt with the objective of obtaining a full factual report concerning the violation of rights; 

Whereas the international definition of a refugee clearly applies to Jews who fled the persecution of Arab regimes, 

where a refugee is a person who ‘‘owing to a well-founded 

fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or poVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:29 Feb 17, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR85.IS SR85

hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
4 

•SRES 85 IS 

litical opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, 

and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to 

avail himself of the protection of that country’’ (Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, done at Geneva 

July 28, 1951, and entered into force April 22, 1954 

(189 UNTS 150)); 

Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) determined that Jews fleeing from Arab 

countries were refugees that fell within the mandate of 

the UNHCR, namely— 

(1) when in his first statement as newly elected 

High Commissioner, Mr. Auguste Lindt, at the January 

29, 1957, meeting of the United Nations Refugee Fund 

(UNREF) Executive Committee in Geneva, stated, 

‘‘There is already now another emergency problem arising. Refugees from Egypt. And there is no doubt in my 

mind that those of those refugee who are not able or not 

willing to avail themselves of the protection of the Government of their nationality, they might have no nationality or they may have lost this nationality, or, for reasons of prosecution may not be willing to avail themselves 

of this protection, fall under the mandate of the High 

Commissioner.’’ (United Nations High Commissioner for 

Refugees, Report of the UNREF Executive Committee, 

Fourth Session–Geneva 29 January to 4 February, 

1957); and 

(2) Dr. E. Jahn, on behalf of the United Nations 

High Commissioner for Refugees, wrote to Daniel Lack, 

Legal Adviser to the American Joint Distribution Committee, stating, ‘‘I refer to our recent discussion concerning Jews from Middle Eastern and North African 

countries in consequence of recent events. I am now able 

to inform you that such persons may be considered prima 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
5 

•SRES 85 IS 

facie within the mandate of this Office.’’ (United Nations 

High Commissioner for Refugees Document No. 7/2/3/ 

Libya); 

Whereas the seminal United Nations resolution on the ArabIsraeli conflict and other international initiatives refer 

generally to the plight of ‘‘refugees’’ and do not make 

any distinction between Palestinian and Jewish refugees, 

such as— 

(1) United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 

of November 22, 1967, which calls for a ‘‘just settlement 

of the refugee problem’’ without distinction between Palestinian and Jewish refugees, and this is evidenced by— 

(A) a failed attempt by the United Nations delegation of the Soviet Union to restrict the ‘‘just settlement’’ mentioned in Resolution 242 solely to Palestinian refugees (S/8236, discussed by the Security 

Council at its 1382nd meeting on November 22, 

1967, notably at paragraph 117, in the words of 

Ambassador Kouznetsov of the Soviet Union), which 

signified the international community’s intention of 

having the resolution address the rights of all Middle 

East refugees; and 

(B) a statement by Justice Arthur Goldberg, 

the Chief Delegate of the United States to the 

United Nations at that time, who was instrumental 

in drafting the unanimously adopted United Nations 

Resolution 242, where he observed, ‘‘The resolution 

addresses the objective of ‘achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem’. This language presumably refers both to Arab and Jewish refugees, 

for about an equal number of each abandoned their 

homes as a result of the several wars.’’; 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
6 

•SRES 85 IS 

(2) the Madrid Conference, which was first convened 

in October 1991 and was co-chaired by President of the 

United States, George H.W. Bush, and President of the 

Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, and included delegations from Spain, the European community, the Netherlands, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon, as well as a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, where in his opening remarks before the January 28, 1992, organizational meeting for multilateral negotiations on the Middle East in 

Moscow, United States Secretary of State James Baker 

made no distinction between Palestinian refugees and 

Jewish refugees in articulating the mission of the Refugee Working Group, stating that ‘‘[t]he refugee group 

will consider practical ways of improving the lot of people 

throughout the region who have been displaced from their 

homes’’; and 

(3) the Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, which refers in 

Phase III to an ‘‘agreed, just, fair, and realistic solution 

to the refugee issue’’, language that is consistent with 

United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which 

applied equally to Arab and Jewish peoples; 

Whereas Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinians have affirmed 

that a comprehensive solution to the Middle East conflict 

will require a just solution to the plight of all ‘‘refugees’’, 

as evidenced by— 

(1) the 1978 Camp David Accords, the Framework 

for Peace in the Middle East, which includes a commitment by Egypt and Israel to ‘‘work with each other and 

with other interested parties to establish agreed procedures for a prompt, just and permanent resolution of the 

implementation of the refugee problem’’; 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
7 

•SRES 85 IS 

(2) the Treaty of Peace between Israel and Egypt, 

signed at Washington March 26, 1979, which provides in 

Article 8 that the ‘‘Parties agree to establish a claims 

commission for the mutual settlement of all financial 

claims’’ and makes general references to United Nations 

Security Council Resolution 242 as the basis for comprehensive peace in the region; and 

(3) Article 8 of the Treaty of Peace Between the 

State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 

done at Arava/Araba Crossing Point October 26, 1994, 

entitled ‘‘Refugees and Displaced Persons’’, refers to 

‘‘the massive human problems caused to both Parties by 

the conflict in the Middle East’’; 

Whereas the call to secure rights and redress for Jewish and 

other minorities who were forced to flee Arab countries 

is not a campaign against Palestinian refugees; 

Whereas the international community should be aware of the 

plight of Jews and other minority groups displaced from 

the Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf; 

Whereas the history and legacy of Jewish refugees from Arab 

countries must be preserved; 

Whereas no just and comprehensive Middle East peace can 

be reached without recognition of, and redress for, the 

uprooting of centuries-old Jewish communities in the 

Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf; and 

Whereas it would be appropriate and just for the United 

States, while recognizing rights for Palestinian refugees, 

to recognize equal rights for former Jewish, Christian, 

and other refugees from Arab countries: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
8 

•SRES 85 IS 

1 SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON HUMAN RIGHTS 

2 AND REFUGEES. 

3 It is the sense of the Senate that— 

4 (1) the United States deplores the past and 

5 present ongoing violation of the human rights and 

6 religious freedoms of minority populations in Arab 

7 and Muslim countries throughout the Middle East, 

8 North Africa, and the Persian Gulf; and 

9 (2) with respect to Jews, Christians, and other 

10 populations displaced from countries in the region, 

11 for any comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace agreement 

12 to be credible, durable, enduring, and constitute an 

13 end to conflict in the Middle East, North Africa, and 

14 the Persian Gulf, the agreement must address and 

15 resolve all outstanding issues, including the legiti16 mate rights of all refugees of the Middle East, 

17 North Africa, and the Persian Gulf. 

18 SEC. 2. UNITED STATES POLICY ON REFUGEES OF THE MID19 DLE EAST. 

20 The Senate urges the President to— 

21 (1) instruct the United States Permanent Rep22 resentative to the United Nations and all representa23 tives of the United States in bilateral and multilat24 eral fora that, when considering or addressing reso25 lutions that allude to the issue of refugees in the 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
9 

•SRES 85 IS 

1 Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf, 

2 they should ensure that— 

3 (A) relevant text refers to the fact that 

4 multiple refugee populations have been created 

5 by the Arab-Israeli conflict; and 

6 (B) any explicit reference to the required 

7 resolution of the Palestinian refugee issue is 

8 matched by a similar explicit reference to the 

9 resolution of the issue of Jewish, Christian, and 

10 other refugees from Arab and Muslim countries 

11 throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and 

12 the Persian Gulf region; and 

13 (2) make clear that the United States Govern14 ment supports the position that, as an integral part 

15 of any comprehensive peace, the issue of refugees 

16 and the mass violations of human rights of minori17 ties in Arab and Muslim countries throughout the 

18 Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf 

19 must be resolved in a manner that includes— 

20 (A) consideration of the legitimate rights 

21 of all refugees displaced from Arab and Muslim 

22 countries throughout the Middle East, North 

23 Africa, and the Persian Gulf; and 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
10 

•SRES 85 IS 

1 (B) recognition of the losses incurred by 

2 Jews, Christians, and other minority groups as 

3 a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict. 

Æ 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS