EMM Director Condemns Ceiling on Refugees
Episcopal News Service. June 8, 1995 [95-1138D]
The director of Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) has condemned a proposal to drastically reduce the number of refugees admitted to the United States. The proposal by the U.S. Commission on Immigration would set the ceiling at 50,000 people, cutting the 1994 limit of 110,000 by more than half.
"The very notion of a ceiling threatens the flexibility and responsiveness which we as a nation must have towards the worldwide refugee crisis," said Richard Parkins, EMM director. "The idea that our ability to respond as a nation to international humanitarian crises be limited by an artificially prescribed cap represents an abdication of leadership in a world where refugee crises are likely to increase and where increased opportunities for resettlement are likely to be needed."
The commission's recommendation, announced in a press conference in Washington D.C., Wednesday, June 7, generally follows legislation proposed by Senator Alan Simpson (R) of Wyoming. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees estimates that there are currently 16 million refugees, counting only those who have left their countries of origin. The number jumps to 23 million if internally displaced persons are added.
"With an escalating number of refugees in the world, logic suggests that our willingness to resettle refugees should increase rather than diminish," Parkins said. Episcopal Migration Ministries settles about 3,000 refugees a year through a network of 45 diocesan programs.