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Refugee and asylum overview (world and United States) (last updated 10/13/01) Refugee and asylum policies are concerned with allowing immigration for humanitarian and political reasons, largely to protect people from persecution, and differ in where the applicants are: refugees are outside the country and brought in, whereas asylees come to the United States seeking such protection after they arrive. By contrast, immigration policy, at least in the United States, is usually based on economic, family-reunification, and political concerns. Worldwide, there are about 20 million people each year who are "of concern" (1 out of every 269 people worldwide, or 0.3 percent of the world population) to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the international agency charged with helping refugees, asylum-seekers, and people who have been displaced from their homes for fear of persecution. Of the 22.3 million people of concern to the UNHCR in 1999, 11.7 million were refugees. About 2.5 million people were refugees who were returning to their countries of origin, 1.2 million were seeking asylum in another country, 6.9 million were considered "internally displaced persons" and other people who had moved somehow but did not fit into the other categories. For several years now, war-torn Afghanistan has stood clearly as a country with the most severe population movements. In 1999, Afghani refugees numbered 2.6 million of the 11.7 million refugees (about 22 percent), which was about five times that of the next largest group, Iraqi refugees. Moving beyond refugees alone, other countries with large populations who are of concern to the UNHCR are the former Yugoslavia, East Timor, Sri Lanka, and the former Soviet Union. United States policy towards refugees has been to bring roughly around 80,000 to 100,000 refugees into the country a year (in fiscal year 2001, that year's 80,000 spots were allocated with 25% to Africa, 25% to Eastern Europe, 21% to the former Soviet Union, 12.5% to Near East/South Asia, 7.5% to East Asia, 4% to Latin America, and the remainder as needed). Allotment of refugee openings is based on geographical region, with the former Soviet Union, the former Yugoslavia, and Vietnam providing the most refugees in 1998. The United States also grants asylum to roughly 15,000 people already in the country each year. Asylum grantees are determined on a more individual case basis, and the distribution by country of origin can vary widely from year to year. In 1997, Iraqis comprised the largest group of people being granted asylum, but people from Nicaragua were the largest in 1998.    United States: Refugees (last updated 10/13/01) Refugees are people who are outside the United States but are brought inside because of their fear of persecution in their country of origin. This fear can be based on their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, but cannot be based on a desire for better economic opportunities. The United States first recognized refugees for entry into the country in the late 1940s. At the beginning of each fiscal year, the President determined the number of refugees in need of resettlement who are of special humanitarian concern to the United States and then established the authorized number of admissions for that year. Generally, refugees are interviewed and approved for admission in ten of the Immigration and Naturalization Service's 39 overseas offices. The Clinton administration authorized the admission of up to 80,000 refugees during the fiscal year 2001. Since 1980, the number of authorized admissions has gone up and down, with a high around 155,000 in 1981 and a low around 50,000 in 1986; the number has been around 70-80,000 since 1995. Of the 80,000 spots authorized in FY 2001, 20,000 were allocated each to Africa and Eastern Europe, 17,000 to the former Soviet Union, 10,000 to Near East/South Asia, 6,000 to East Asia, 3,000 to Latin America, and 4,000 to be allocated as shortfalls develop. From 1991 to 1997, the United States took refugees primarily from the former Soviet Union, Vietnam, Cuba, and the former Yugoslavia. The following chart shows how the number of refugees changed in that period as well as the breakdown of refugees by country of origin.  United States: Asylum (last updated 10/13/01) An asylee is an alien in the United States who is unable or unwilling to return to his country or nationality because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution. An asylee must meet the same definition as a refugee, with the only difference being where the person is upon application. As with refugees, a desire for better economic opportunities does not qualify as a reason justifying asylum. The number of cases filed and in which asylum is granted varies widely from year to year, a result of international conditions and who can get to the United States. In fiscal year 1998, Mexico provided the most new cases for asylum, followed by El Salvador, China, Guatemala, India, Somalia and the former Soviet Union. People from the Soviet Union and Somalia were granted asylum more than from other countries of origin, and very few Mexican applicants have actually received asylum over the 1990s.   United States: Immigration (last updated 10/13/01) Immigrants, as defined by United States law, are persons lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States. United States law gives preferential immigration status to persons with a close family relationship with a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident, persons with needed job skills, or persons who qualify as refugees (in 1989-92, many former illegal aliens were also given permanent resident status under the legalization provisions of the Immigration and Reform and Control Act of 1986). Accordingly, the law does not directly refer to specific countries or regions of origin, but it indirectly reinforces and builds upon populations already in country. In 1998, the Immigration and Naturalization Service counted 660,447 legal immigrants, with 357,037 new arrivals and 303,440 residents who had adjusted their status. Of these, 43 percent were the immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, 30 percent were family-sponsored immigrants, 12 percent were employment-based immigrants, and 8 percent were refugees or asylees. As for country or region of origin, 33 percent were from Asia, 20 percent from Mexico, 14 percent from Europe, 12 percent from the Carribean, 7 percent from South America, and five percent from Central America. In addition, there were about 5 million people who had illegally immigrated to the United States, according to a 1998 estimate by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, with about 275,000 new such persons a year. Mexicans made up the majority of this population (54%), followed by people from El Salvador, Guatemala, Canada, Haiti, and the Philippines. About 40 percent of the total undocumented population resided in California, with others concentrated in Texas, New York, Florida, New Jersey and Arizona.   United States: Cuba (last updated 10/13/01) United States immigration policy towards Cuba has adapted with the end of the Cold War and economic problems in that country. From the rise of Fidel Castro's Communist regime in 1959 until post-Cold War developments in 1994, the United States operated a more or less open-door policy towards people leaving Cuba, primarily motivated by the Cold War concerns of the United States towards a Communist neighbor. This policy was first tested in 1980 during the first mass migration emergency faced by the United States. Between April 21 and September 28, 1980, about 125,000 Cubans entered the United States by a flotilla of mostly United States vessels in violation of United States vessels, encouraged by Castro's permitting anyone to leave from the port of Mariel, Cuba. Nevertheless, the policy was maintained over the ensuing decade. In 1981, President Reagan issued Presidential Proclamation 4865, suspending the entry of undocumented migrants via the high seas. In 1992, President Bush issued Executive Order 12807 ordering the Coast Guard to stop the entry of undocumented migrants by interdicting them at sea and returning them to their country of origin or departure. In August 1994, the number of Cubans leaving by boat for the United States increased rapidly, which some blamed on a severe economic recession brought about by the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies that had been worth around $5 billion a year; Castro put the blame instead on the continuing United States embargo of Cuba. With about 30,000 Cubans using flimsy boats to enter the United States, the United States government announced in August 1994 that the Coast Guard would interdict migrants and hold them at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, which is located on the same island as Cuba, and at another holding center in the Panama canal zone. The Coast Guard interdicted about 30,000 Cubans through its Operation Able Vigil in a roughly one-month period, interdicting a high of 3,253 in one day. On September 10, 1994, the United States then reached an agreement with Cuba covering several points. The United States reaffirmed its earlier decision to stop accepting refugees automatically, and Cuba agreed to prevent unsafe departures using mainly persuasive means. Both governments agreed to take measures against Cuban hijackers of ships and aircraft. Finally, the United States agreed to issue 20,000 entry visas a year, thus providing a regular means of leaving the country for the United States. By the beginning of 1995, the number of departures from Cuba by sea had fallen dramatically, but there were still more than 30,000 rafters still held at the two U.S. facilities. The two governments then argeed in May 1995 to admit most of the rafters still at Guatanamo Bay and to return subsequent rafters to Cuba following a brief screening procedure. The United States admitted about 10,000 Cuban immigrants a year in the early 1990s, with a high of 33,587 in 1997, and then a decline by half in 1998. From 1992 to 1994, the United States admitted about 3,000 refugees from Cuba a year, peaking at 6,133 in 1995, and then falling down to 1,587 in 1998. Even in 1995, Cubans received only a small part (roughly 6 percent) of the allotted spaces for refugees brought to the United States; the former Soviet Union, the former Yugoslavia, Vietnam and Somalia all provided two to 15 times as many refugees each. In general, United States immigration policy is divided into legal immigration policy based primarily on familial relationships and employment needs, refugee policy based on bringing people fearing persecution to the United States, and asylum policy giving protection to people who fear persecution and are already in the United States (read more here). The Coast Guard continues to interdict illegal immigrants attempting to enter the United States via the high seas. Since the early 1990s, there has been a shift from migrants taking to seas in rafts to employing smugglers; this method is still dangerous as overloaded vessels have overturned, resulting in deaths. Besides Cubans, the Coast Guard has interdicted illegal immigrants from Haiti, China, the Dominican Republic, and recently Ecuador and Mexico.  |
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