Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The work that Mr. Lubbers and his colleagues at the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) do to protect the millions of refugees around the world is invaluable. We are especially grateful for the work that they are doing to protect the eight million refugees, IDPs, and recent returnees in the OSCE region. We applaud the joint work that UNHCR and OSCE have developed over the years through our institutions and field missions.

The United States, like others around this table, is a strong supporter of the High Commissioner. In the past calendar years we donated more than $245 million for UNHCR programs that protect and support refugees worldwide. Our taxpayer’s generosity and UNHCR's dedication and courage have helped displaced persons obtain the food, shelter, clothing and medical assistance that they need. It is especially important that UNHCR has also helped to find durable solutions for many of those who have been displaced. Minority returns in Bosnia are only one of its success stories, with 67,000 minorities returning to their pre-war homes in 2000 and 50,000 in the first eight months of this year. We would call on the UNHCR to continue to assist in the repatriation, local integration, and resettlement of displaced persons in Southeast Europe as well as in other OSCE states. Durable solutions are not only for the benefit of the displaced, they also help to prevent disaffected groups from being subject to manipulation by extremists.

As the High Commissioner has told us this morning, permanent solutions can help decrease the underlying social tensions and instability that result when whole segments of a population are denied citizenship and fundamental civic duties and responsibilities.

The United States would also like to thank Mr. Lubbers and his colleagues, in addition to other UN agencies, for their strong support for the Afghan people during this difficult time. The United States too is committed to providing the Afghan people with humanitarian aid. We are the largest contributor of humanitarian relief to Afghanistan, donating $108 million to the 2001 UN Appeal in addition to thousands of dollars of other food and non-food aid through other programs.

We would also like to commend Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan for already hosting almost 26,000 Afghan refugees. The willingness of neighboring Central Asian states to take in refugees is of the utmost importance to secure the human rights of the Afghan people.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate UNHCR on over fifty years of protecting refugees. Mr. High Commissioner, you, your colleagues and your predecessors should take justifiable pride in the work that you have done.

Thank you.