Title: A resolution commemorating June 20, 2020, as World Refugee Day.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution reaffirms the goals of World Refugee Day and the bipartisan U.S. commitment to promote the safety, health, well-being, and education of refugees.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 674 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 674

           Commemorating June 20, 2020, as World Refugee Day.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 6, 2020

   Mr. Menendez (for himself and Mr. Leahy) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
           Commemorating June 20, 2020, as World Refugee Day.

Whereas World Refugee Day is a global event to acknowledge the courage, 
        strength, and determination of women, men, and children who are forced 
        to flee their homes due to persecution;
Whereas, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
        (referred to in this preamble as ``UNHCR'') and section 101(a)(42) of 
        the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42)), as added by 
        section 201 of the Refugee Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-212), a refugee is 
        a person who--

    (1) is outside of the country of his or her nationality or habitual 
residence; and

    (2) is unable or unwilling to return because of a well-founded fear of 
persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, 
or membership in a particular social group;

Whereas, according to the UNHCR, at the end of 2019--

    (1) there were at least 79,500,000 forcibly displaced people worldwide, 
which is the worst displacement crisis in recorded history, including--

    G    (A) 29,600,000 refugees;

    G    (B) more than 45,700,000 internally displaced people; and

    G    (C) 4,200,000 asylum seekers;

    (2) 1 person out of every 97 people worldwide was a refugee, an asylum 
seeker, or an internally displaced person;

    (3) the number of refugees under UNHCR's mandate had doubled since 
2010;

    (4) 68 percent of the world's refugees came from only 5 countries 
(Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Burma);

    (5) 73 percent of all refugees were residing in countries adjacent to 
the countries from which they had fled;

    (6) approximately 31,000,000 of the people who had been forcibly 
displaced and 50 percent of all refugees were children younger than 18 
years of age, millions of whom were unable to access basic services, 
including education;

    (7) approximately 11,000,000 people were newly displaced due to recent 
conflict or persecution, including 8,600,000 internally displaced persons 
and 2,400,000 refugees and asylum seekers, representing an average of at 
least 30,000 such people per day;

    (8) more than 50 percent of the population of Syria (at least 
13,000,000 people) were displaced, either across the international border 
or within Syria, which represents the largest displacement crisis in the 
world today;

    (9) more than 1,400,000 refugees needed resettlement to a third country 
(an 80-percent increase since 2011), while only 107,800 refugees were 
resettled to a total of 26 countries; and

    (10) only 317,200 refugees voluntarily returned to their country or 
place of origin, which represents fewer than 2 percent of the 20,400,000 
refugees under UNHCR's mandate;

Whereas millions of refugees around the world are stateless (not recognized as 
        nationals by any state) and therefore require a path to citizenship as 
        part of any solution to their displacement;
Whereas refugee children are 5 times more likely to be out of school than non-
        refugee children;
Whereas refugees who are women and girls are often at greater risk of violence, 
        human trafficking, exploitation, and gender-based violence;
Whereas more than 50 percent of refugees reside in urban areas;
Whereas 85 percent of refugees and asylum seekers reside in developing 
        countries, which places enormous additional pressure on the already 
        limited resources of those countries;
Whereas the average length of time refugees remain displaced from their home 
        country ranges between 10 and 26 years;
Whereas while refugee resettlement is a critical solution for refugees, fewer 
        than 10 percent of global resettlement needs have been met and global 
        refugee resettlement opportunities have fallen by 50 percent since 2016;
Whereas the United States resettlement program, which was established 40 years 
        ago--

    (1) is a lifesaving solution crucial to global humanitarian efforts;

    (2) strengthens global security;

    (3) advances United States foreign policy goals;

    (4) supports regional host countries; and

    (5) assists individuals and families in need;

Whereas the United States annual refugee admissions ceiling fell from 85,000 in 
        fiscal year 2016 to 18,000 in fiscal year 2020, which represents the 
        lowest level in the history of the program;
Whereas, as of June 19, 2020 (9 months into fiscal year 2020), the United States 
        had welcomed only 7,684 refugees into the country, which is fewer than 
        50 percent of the President's 18,000 refugee admissions ceiling;
Whereas, at this pace, the United States will not meet its fiscal year 2020 
        refugee admissions goal;
Whereas, for fiscal year 2020, the United States, irrespective of global 
        resettlement needs, designated new thematic and regional allocations for 
        United States refugee admissions that prioritize--

    (1) refugees fleeing persecution on account of religious persecution;

    (2) Iraqis; and

    (3) refugees from Central America;

Whereas refugees are the most vetted travelers to enter the United States and 
        are subject to extensive screening checks that may last between 18 
        months and 3 years, including in-person interviews, biometric data 
        checks, and multiple interagency reviews;
Whereas refugees--

    (1) are major contributors to local economies;

    (2) pay an average of $21,000 more in taxes than they receive in 
benefits; and

    (3) revitalize cities and towns by--

    G    (A) offsetting population decline; and

    G    (B) boosting economic growth by opening businesses, paying taxes, 
and buying homes;

Whereas certain industries and towns rely heavily on refugee workers to support 
        their economic stability, and low rates of arrivals of refugees have had 
        serious impacts on economic growth; and
Whereas, during the COVID-19 pandemic--

    (1) refugees, internally displaced persons, and asylum seekers, many of 
whom live in dangerously overcrowded settings and have inadequate access to 
basic services like healthcare, water, and sanitation, are especially 
vulnerable to the spread of the novel coronavirus;

    (2) well-intentioned government polices to mitigate the spread of the 
novel coronavirus may exacerbate inequalities and disproportionately impact 
those already suffering from conflict and persecution;

    (3) UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration suspended 
their international refugee resettlement operations for 3 months, which 
negatively affected at least 10,000 refugees who were already approved for 
travel to their respective countries of resettlement;

    (4) numerous countries have restricted access to asylum, including the 
United States, which summarily returned more than 40,000 asylum seekers 
gathered at the southern United States border back to Mexico and only 
permitted 2 individuals to remain in the United States to request 
humanitarian protection between March 21 and May 13, 2020; and

    (5) many refugees are serving as critical frontline health 
professionals and essential workers combating the COVID-19 pandemic in the 
United States and other host countries: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) reaffirms the bipartisan commitment of the United 
        States to promote the safety, health, and well-being of 
        millions of refugees, including the education of refugee 
        children and displaced persons who flee war, persecution, or 
        torture in search of peace, hope, and freedom;
            (2) recognizes those individuals who have risked their 
        lives working, either individually or for nongovernmental 
        organizations and international agencies, such as UNHCR, to 
        provide lifesaving assistance and protection for people 
        displaced by conflicts around the world;
            (3) underscores the importance of the United States refugee 
        resettlement program as a critical tool for the United States 
        Government--
                    (A) to leverage foreign policy;
                    (B) to strengthen national and regional security; 
                and
                    (C) to demonstrate international support of 
                refugees;
            (4) calls upon the United States Government--
                    (A) to continue providing robust funding for 
                refugee protection overseas and resettlement in the 
                United States;
                    (B) to uphold its international leadership role in 
                responding to displacement crises with humanitarian 
                assistance and protection of the most vulnerable 
                populations;
                    (C) to work in partnership with the international 
                community to find solutions to existing conflicts and 
                prevent new conflicts from beginning;
                    (D) to ensure that--
                            (i) the United States refugee resettlement 
                        program is equipped to protect and support 
                        refugees; and
                            (ii) the United States provides essential 
                        leadership to the international refugee 
                        assistance community and to local communities 
                        across the United States seeking to welcome 
                        refugees and to help them achieve the American 
                        dream;
                    (E) to alleviate the burden placed on frontline 
                refugee host countries, such as the Hashemite Kingdom 
                of Jordan, the People's Republic of Bangladesh, the 
                Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Colombia, and the 
                Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, which receive 
                the majority of the world's refugees, and provide these 
                countries with humanitarian and development support;
                    (F) to endorse the Global Compact for Refugees, 
                affirmed by the United Nations General Assembly on 
                December 17, 2018, and join the Global Compact for 
                Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, done in Morocco 
                July 11, 2018;
                    (G) to terminate harmful policies that undermine 
                refugee law and humanitarian principles, including--
                            (i) the closure of the United States border 
                        to asylum seekers;
                            (ii) the Migrant Protection Protocols, 
                        implemented beginning on January 29, 2019; and
                            (iii) the Asylum Cooperative Agreements 
                        signed with Guatemala, Honduras, and El 
                        Salvador in 2019;
                    (H) to adopt a robust and inclusive interpretation 
                of United States refugee law that takes into account 
                the changed nature of conflict and persecution and 
                increase complementary legal pathways for protection 
                and entry into the United States;
                    (I) to meet the challenges of the worst refugee 
                crisis in recorded history by--
                            (i) restoring United States leadership on 
                        refugee resettlement; and
                            (ii) increasing the number of refugees 
                        welcomed to and resettled in the United States 
                        to--
                                    (I) not fewer than 18,000 refugees 
                                during fiscal year 2020; and
                                    (II) not fewer than 95,000 refugees 
                                during fiscal year 2021; and
                    (J) to restore the United States longstanding 
                tradition of resettling the most vulnerable refugees 
                and to avoid discrimination, including discrimination 
                based on a refugee's nationality or religious beliefs; 
                and
            (5) reaffirms the goals of World Refugee Day and reiterates 
        the strong commitment to protect the millions of refugees who 
        live without material, social, or legal protections.
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