Bush Approves Additional $32 Million for Refugees

U.S. President George Bush has approved more than $32 million inadditional funding to support refugees and victims of conflict inAfrica, the Middle East, and Asia. VOA White House Correspondent ScottStearns has the story.

First Lady Laura Bush announced the additional funding at a White House ceremony marking World Refugee Day.

"Werecognize citizens from African nations like Somalia and Sudan, whowere forced to flee their homes by ongoing violence," she said. "Werecognize families from Iraq and Afghanistan, who were terrorized intheir neighborhoods. And, on only one day after Aung San Suu Kyi'sbirthday, where she's passed another year under house arrest, werecognize activists and ethnic populations in Burma, who were pushedinto refugee camps by an oppressive military regime."

The UnitedNations says there are currently more than 11 million refugees aroundthe world and millions more who have are internally displaced byconflict or persecution.

The United States this year will spendmore than $1 billion for food and shelter to help resettle refugees.Mrs. Bush says America will take in as many as 70,000 displaced people.

"ManyAmerican families came to this country to escape repressive regimes andbuild better futures. We honor this legacy by welcoming more refugeesannually than any other nation," she added.

In the last 30 years, the United States has accepted nearly 3 million refugees.