*EPF216 05/09/00
Text: U.S. State Department Announces New Donation to UNHCR
(Annual U.S. total to refugee agency surpasses $140 million)(390)

The United States government this year has contributed almost $140 million to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR), including a May 9 donation of $25 million, according to Department of State Spokesman Richard Boucher.

In a press statement, Boucher said the latest donation of U.S. funds will be directed toward refugee problems in West Africa, the Newly Independent States, and the Baltics.
The funds will also help support the Afghan Refugee program and further the repatriation of Croatian Serbs.

Following is the text of the statement:

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U.S. Department of State
Office of the Spokesman

Press Statement by Richard Boucher, Spokesman
May 9, 2000

U.S. Contributes Additional $25 Million to The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The United States has made an additional contribution of $25 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This will bring our total funding for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Fiscal Year 2000 to date to almost $140 million.

This latest contribution is to provide support for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees programs in the four areas as follows:

-- $8,700,000 to facilitate the repatriation and reintegration of refugees in West Africa, and to strengthen United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees protection and assistance programs for refugees in Guinea from Sierra Leone and Liberia;

-- $8,500,000 for the Newly Independent States and the Baltics, especially in support of the return and reintegration or local settlement of refugees and internally displaced persons in the Southern Caucasus;

-- $4,000,000 for the Afghan Refugee Program to assist refugees returning to Afghanistan from countries of asylum, to assist those refugees remaining in Iran and Pakistan, and to help meet the educational needs of refugees, particularly girls;

-- $3,998,995 to assist and facilitate the return of Croatian Serbs who are refugees in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to their pre-war homes in Croatia.

The United States believes that the protection and care of refugees and the pursuit of permanent solutions for refugee crises are shared international responsibilities and calls on other donors to be generous in supporting the programs of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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