MRS > Migration Policy and Public Affair Office > Action Alert: FY 2005 Budget: Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance (ERMA)
The Foreign Operations subcommittees of both the House and Senate will soon be marking up the Foreign Operations appropriations bill. It is important that letters of support for Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) funding be sent to representatives/Senators over the next week. Below is an action alert and backgrounder which will be helpful to you in your advocacy. If you have specific questions, you may contact Kevin Appleby, director of policy, at kappleby@usccb.org.
The Migration and Refugee Assistance Account (MRA), part of the Foreign Operations appropriations bill each year, funds overseas refugee assistance, including the physical and legal protection of refugees and the provision of food, shelter, health services, and other vital assistance. MRA also provides funding for the processing of refugees for admission to the United States and initial resettlement expenses.
The Bush Administration has requested a total of $730 million for MRA for FY 2005, while MRS/USCCB has requested $927 million to meet overseas needs and to resettle refugees in the United States. $590 million would be used to provide overseas protection and assistance and $270 million would be used to resettle 90,000 refugees.
The Emergency Refugee and Migration assistance account (ERMA) is a no-year account that is used in order to meet unexpected urgent refugee emergencies. The Bush Administration has requested $20 million for FY 2005; MRS/USCCB has asked for an appropriation of $50 million.
Contact your Senator/Representative and ask them to support an appropriation of $927 million for MRA and $50 million for ERMA in the FY 2005 budget. These amounts will help meet the needs of refugees overseas and resettled in the United States. Attached is a list of appropriation committee members and members of the Foreign Operations subcommittee, which will consider the bill as early as June 24. Please fax your letter. You can obtain fax numbers by contacting the office of your rep/Senator at 202-224-3121. Below is a sample letter:
Dear Senator/Representative:
I write to ask your support for a FY 2005 appropriation of $927 million for the Migration and Refugee Assistance account (MRA) and $50 million for the Emergency Migration and Refugee Assistance Account (ERMA) of the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill.
The MRA account provides overseas assistance, including the provision of physical and legal protection and basic needs assistance to needy refugees. It also provides initial costs for refugees resettled in the United States. The ERMA account is a no-year account which is used in refugee emergencies. We believe that $927 million and $50 million, respectively, will help meet the needs of refugees abroad and in the United States. These funding streams are crucial to maintaining the U.S. commitment to refugees around the world.
I ask that you support this level of funding for MRA and ERMA in the FY 2005 Foreign Operations appropriations bill.
Sincerely,
Background
Senate Appropriations Committee (* member Foreign Operations subcommittee)
House Appropriations Committee (* Foreign Operations subcommittee member)
3211 4TH Street, NE Washington, DC 20017-1194
Tel: 202-541-5402 Fax: 202-722-8805
Backgrounder and FY2005 Recommendations on U.S. Funding for
Refugee Protection and Assistance
| Account |
RCUSA
($ in millions) |
Administration |
Difference |
| Migration and Refugee Assistance |
$ 927 |
$ 730 |
$ 197 |
| Emergency Migration and Refugee Assistance |
$ 50 |
$ 20 |
$ 30 |
The Department of State’s Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) account helps the United States meet its domestic and international obligations to assist the world’s refugees and, in some cases, internally displaced persons. MRA funding also helps relieve explosive international tensions and sets an example for the rest of the world. This example, in turn, makes it more likely that other nations will protect refugees fleeing into their territories, offer life-saving financial and other assistance to refugees languishing in camps, and resettle those refugees for whom permanent admission to another country is the only viable solution.
The MRA account is found in the International Affairs function (function 150) of the federal budget. The permanent authorization for MRA activities/funding is found in the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962. Specific funding levels for MRA are authorized from time to time in the Foreign Relations Authorization Act (sometimes referred to as the State Department Authorization bill), which is produced by the House International Relations Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. MRA appropriations are provided each year through the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. The MRA account is administered by the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM).
The activities funded by MRA are:
- Overseas refugee assistance, including the physical and legal protection of refugees and the provision of food, shelter, health services, and other vital assistance;
- Processing refugees for admission to the United States and the initial period of resettlement;
- Aid to refugees resettling in Israel; and
- PRM administrative expenses
Overseas Assistance. The majority of MRA funds for overseas assistance are used to support the work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which is widely recognized by relief experts as the United Nations’ most consistently effective agency. UNHCR channels much of its funding to nongovernmental relief organizations, such as CARE, World Relief, Catholic Relief Services, the International Rescue Committee, and Doctors Without Borders. Overseas refugee assistance funds also support the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and other international organizations. These agencies work not only to address the immediate needs of refugees and other conflict victims but also to resolve refugee crises through repatriation, local integration, or—for less than one percent of the world’s refugees—resettlement in another country. In recent years, UNHCR, ICRC, and UNRWA have all experienced significant budget shortfalls, requiring sustained support from the United States.
Refugee Admissions. The Refugee Admissions portion of MRA provides funding to identify, admit, and provide initial resettlement for refugees who are admitted to the United States each year. Resettlement is widely regarded as an important tool of refugee protection, not only because it serves as a durable solution for individual refugees but also because it helps convince countries of “first asylum” to keep their doors open to persons fleeing persecution. All refugees admitted to the United States must meet the U.S. refugee definition (modeled on the UN definition), which requires a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. The U.S. refugee admissions program protects persons who share our values and have suffered because of it.
The admissions process starts with a consultation that takes place between the Administration and
Congress, with participation by U.S.-based refugee resettlement agencies and others. The Administration then establishes a ceiling for the number of refugees to be admitted in the upcoming fiscal year. Over the years, the ceiling has ranged from more than 200,000 in the early 1980s to a recent low of 70,000. After setting the ceiling, the U.S. government works in partnership with international organizations and U.S.-based agencies to identify, admit, and resettle refugees into the country.
RCUSA recommends an FY 2005 MRA appropriation of no less than $927 million, which would:
- Allow $590 million for overseas refugee assistance, to: (1) address both new and longstanding refugee situations, such as those in Chad, Thailand, Burundi, Kenya, and Nepal; (2) help fund successful refugee repatriations, particularly in Africa, and bring longstanding refugee crises to a close; and (3) address the severe funding shortfalls undermining relief programs of international aid agencies and their implementing partners, many of whom are U.S.-based agencies, including faith-based charities;
- Fund the admission of up to 90,000 refugees; and
- Fund the other two MRA line-items (aid to refugees resettling in Israel, and PRM administrative expenses) at anticipated levels.
The Department of State’s Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance (ERMA) account is a no-year account that the President may draw on at any time to meet “unexpected urgent refugee needs.” The term “no-year” means that any funds left over in the account at the end of a fiscal year can be carried over into the next fiscal year. Like MRA, ERMA is found in the International Affairs function (function 150) of the federal budget. Funding for ERMA was permanently authorized in the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962. Appropriations for ERMA are provided each year through the Foreign Operations
Appropriations bill. Recent ERMA drawdowns have addressed the return of refugees to Sierra Leone and Angola; the crises in Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia; and the emerging crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan.