USCR is grateful to Senators Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who nominated us for the prestigious Nansen prize, November 20, stating “The Committee is known throughout the world for its flagship campaign against refugee warehousing in recognition of the fundamental human rights enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention, but routinely denied throughout the world.”
November 20, 2004

Malaysia Moves Forward on Legal Status for 10,000 Rohingya Refugees from Myanmar
WASHINGTON DC, November 9, 2004—The U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) congratulates the Malaysian government of Prime Minister Ahmad Badawi for granting legal status to some 10,000 ethnic Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers from Myanmar (formerly Burma), which should enable them legally to reside, enjoy some freedom of movement, seek employment...more
November 9, 2004

Geneva Developments: Vatican Condemns Refugee Warehousing —"Statement of the Holy See (quoting Pope John Paul II), as delivered by Msgr. Silvano M. Tomasi to the Executive Committee of UNHCR, Geneva, October 4, 2004 [see photo]; Sarah Delaney, "Refugee camps becoming permanent homes, Vatican official tells UNHCR," Catholic News Service, October 11, 2004; USCR's "Moving Forward" statement at ExCom's annual NGO Consultation, September 28, 2004.

New York Times Editorial Condemns Refugee Warehousing —"Warehouses for Refugees," September 28, 2004, reprinted by the International Herald Tribune as "End refugee warehousing" and Business Day South Africa, September 29, 2004

USCR Executive Director Lavinia Limón Testifies Before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship on “Ending the Practice of Refugee Warehousing,” September 21, 2004— In the subcommittee’s hearing on “Refugees: Seeking Solutions to a Global Concern,” Ms. Limón declares that “the warehousing of refugees and denial of basic human rights is wrong, both legally and morally. ...UNHCR, the donor community and host governments must adopt new policies and devise new practices that prioritize refugee rights.”    Read the testimony

"End Refugee Warehousing," letter from USCR Executive Director Lavinia Limón, Washington Times, September 16, 2004—We applaud Assistant Secretary of State Arthur E. Dewey's focus on warehoused refugees who "languish in dependency" and hopelessness. This massive deprivation of rights is illegal and immoral, and, as Mr. Dewey notes, we at the U.S. Committee for Refugees have made ending it our priority...more

"Unwarehousing refugees," by Assistant Secretary of State Arthur E. Dewey, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Washington Times, September 10, 2004...more

Refugee Council USA releases Recommendations on Refugee Admissions for 2005
Refugee Council USA releases its annual recommendations on refugee admissions for 2005. Read report.
1.63 MB

The State Department Report to Congress on Refugee Admissions for 2005
recommends 70,000 refugee admissions and recognizes that refugees who have been warehoused deserve consideration for the program. Read report.
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USCR Organizes Congressional Delegation on Refugee Resettlement
WASHINGTON DC, August 19, 2004—From August 3-6, a congressional delegation visited the International Institute of Wisconsin to see what happens to refugees once they arrive in the United States...more
August 19, 2004

Again, Warehoused Refugees are Massacred in Africa
WASHINGTON DC, August 17, 2004—The UN Security Council has rightly condemned the August 13 massacre by Hutu extremists of as many as 180 Congolese refugees in Gatumba camp, just 2.4 miles inside Burundi. A UN statement noted that "most of the victims were women, children and babies who were shot dead and burned in their...more
August 17, 2004

The World Refugee Survey 2004
Washington, D.C., May 24 – More than seven million refugees have been confined to refugee camps, segregated settlements or otherwise deprived of their rights for ten years or more, according to World Refugee Survey 2004 – Warehousing Issue, which the U.S. Committee for Refugees releases on May 24. USCR’s 43rd annual survey of refugee conditions and statistics reports on the 11.9 million refugees worldwide and condemns the practice of refugee warehousing as legally indefensible and morally unacceptable...more
May 24, 2004
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IRSA Urges Enactment of SSI Extension for Disabled and Elderly Refugees Act
WASHINGTON DC, July 27, 2004— Immigration and Refugee Services of America applauds the introduction of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Extension for Disabled and Elderly Refugees Act, recently introduced in the Senate with bi-partisan support by Senator Herbert Kohl of Wisconsin (S. 2623), and of companion legislation introduced in March in the House of Representatives...more
July 27, 2004

Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement Geneva, June 15-16, 2004
WASHINGTON DC, July 26, 2004— Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to present, on behalf of the Refugee Council USA, our latest thinking on protracted refugee situations...more
July 26, 2004

USCR Urges President Bush to Condemn Khartoum's Genocide and Act Now to Save Hundreds of Thousands of Lives in Darfur
WASHINGTON DC, June 28, 2004— The U.S. Committee for Refugees welcomes House and Senate action amending the Defense Appropriations bill to provide $25 million for refugees and $70 million for disaster assistance in emergency Sudan funding. But USCR regrets that the Senate on June 24 largely on party lines defeated Senator Biden's amendment to add $118 million more to assist the 200,000 refugees in Chad and more than one million...more
June 28, 2004

USCR Urges President Bush to Condemn Khartoum's Genocide and Act Now to Save Hundreds of Thousands of Lives in Darfur
WASHINGTON DC, June 22, 2004— The U.S. Committee for Refugees welcomes House and Senate action amending the Defense Appropriations bill to provide $25 million for refugees and $70 million for disaster assistance in emergency Sudan funding. But USCR regrets that the Senate on June 24 largely on party lines defeated Senator Biden's amendment to add $118 million more to assist the 200,000 refugees in Chad and more than one million...more
June 28, 2004

USCR Lauds Senator Brownback's Call to End the Warehousing of Seven Million Refugees
WASHINGTON DC, June 22, 2004— The U.S. Committee for Refugees applauds Senator Sam Brownback's (R-KA) excellent statement for World Refugee Day included in June 18's Congressional Record. The Senator affirms the pragmatism and nobility of our nation's commitment to refugee assistance and protection, welcomes the State Department's resettlement of 50,000 refugees this year and calls for a return to higher historic resettlement levels...more
June 22, 2004

USCR Urges the President to Protect Life-Saving Refugee Assistance Funds
WASHINGTON DC, June 14, 2004— At the White House Conference on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives on June 1, President Bush lauded refugee resettlement in the United States, a program that saves thousands of lives every year. The President met with a Liberian woman and Sudanese youth...more
June 14, 2004

USCR Urges Saudi Arabia to Stop Warehousing Iraqi Refugees
WASHINGTON DC, June 7, 2004— On May 23 the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) "suspended indefinitely" due to security concerns in Iraq the repatriation of 483 Iraqis confined for thirteen years at Saudi Arabia's Rafha refugee camp. Saudi Arabia should end their confinement and grant them their rights...more
June 7, 2004

Lead More Boldly on Darfur, Mr. President Don't Repeat Bill Clinton's Historic Mistake on Rwanda
WASHINGTON DC, May 10, 2004 — In 1994 President Clinton failed to act to stop genocide in Rwanda when 800,000 people were slaughtered in 100 days. The world knew about Rwanda then and it knows about Darfur now. Visiting Rwanda in 1998, Clinton "apologized," saying we "did not immediately call these crimes by their rightful name: genocide." For the sake of his name in history, Mr. Bush must avoid ever having to make a similar apology over Darfur...more
May 10, 2004