GAO
United States General Accounting Office
Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee
on Europe and the Middle East,
Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of
Representatives
March 1991
PERSIAN GULF
CRISIS
Humanitarian Relief
Provided to Evacuees
From Kuwait and Iraq
TED ST.
TATES
UNIT
GENE
'FFICE
RAL AC
TING
PUNTI
GAONSIAD-91-160


B-243104
DOCS
on October 19, 1990, UNDRO issued a contingency Plan of Action for han-
dling another surge of evacuees into the countries neighboring Iraq, and
the agency updated the plan on January 11, 1991.
Background
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, precipitated a movement of
more than 1 million people during August and September 1990 into
neighboring countries, mainly Jordan. A large number of evacuees were
“third-country nationals" from various Middle Eastern and South Asian
or Asian countries who had found work in Iraq or Kuwait. Most had a
home country to return to, but they had immediate needs for food,
shelter, and medical attention. In addition, most had lost their lifetime
earnings and were fleeing with few, if any, personal possessions.
Overall Relief Effort
Was Successful
Officials involved characterized the relief effort as successful overall
because all evacuees were fed and expeditiously repatriated to their
countries of origin, and no one died for lack of care. This success was
attributed largely to timely responses by the Jordanian and Turkish
governments and the Turkish Red Crescent Society (the Turkish
equivalent to the American Red Cross), all of which immediately offered
help in the form of food, shelter, water, and medical care.
The organizations that participated in the relief effort included UNDRO,
the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the U.N. Development Pro-
gram, the World Food Program, the U.N. Children's Fund, the Interna-
tional Committee of the Red Cross, the League of Red Cross/Red
Crescent Societies, and the International Organization for Migration
(IOM). In addition, the U.N. Secretary General appointed a special repre-
sentative to focus international attention on the crisis and the relief
effort.
The evacuees were repatriated as a result of extensive efforts mounted
from early September to mid-November by the governments of the evac-
uees' home countries—Egypt, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Philip-
pines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Yemen—and by IOM and the European
Community. More than 350,000 people were repatriated by the govern-
ments whose nationals were displaced, and iom repatriated another
140,000.
The relief efforts in Jordan and Turkey are discussed more fully in
appendix I, and the roles and responsibilities of the various interna-
tional organizations are examined in appendix II.
Page 2
GAO/NSLAD-91-160 Persian Gulf Relief Effort


Contents
Letter
Jordan
Turkey
Appendix I
Relief Efforts in
Jordan and Turkey
Appendix II
Roles and
Responsibilities of
International
Organizations in the
Relief Effort
United Nations Organizations
Other International and Nongovernmental Organizations
Appendix III
Expenses for the Gulf
Relief Effort
Appendix IV
U.S. Contributions to
the Relief Effort
Office of Refugee Programs
Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
Office of Food for Peace
Appendix V
Contingency Plan for
Assisting New
Evacuees
Cost Estimates for Contingency Plan
Roles of International Organizations
Management of the Relief Effort
Tables
Table 1: Gulf Evacuation Relief Pledges and/or
Contributions, by Donor Category, Made Through or
Reported to UNDRO
Table 2: Gulf Evacuation Relief Pledges and/or
Contributions, by Donor Channel, Made Through or
Reported to UNDRO
Table II.1: Government of Jordan's Use of World Food
Program Commodities (Through October 31, 1990)
Page 8
GAO/NSLAD-91-160 Persian Gulf Relief Effort


Contents
Table III.1: Selected Organizations' Appeals for Funds,
Receipts, and Estimated Expenses for the Gulf Relief
Effort
Table III.2: Estimated Expenses Incurred by Gulf
Countries Receiving Evacuees
Table III.3: Requests by Affected Countries for Refunds
of Repatriation Expenses
Table IV.1: U.S. Contributions Through Refugee Program
Accounts
Table IV.2: U.S. Contributions From Office of Foreign
Disaster Assistance
Table IV.3: U.S. Commodities Contributed to Relief Effort
Abbreviations
ERMA
IOM
MRA
OFDA
UNDRO
UNHCR
UNICEF
Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance
International Organization for Migration
Migration and Refugee Assistance
Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
United Nations Disaster Relief Organization
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
United Nations Children's Fund
Page 9
GAO/NSIAD-91-160 Persian Gulf Relief Effort


Appendix I
Relief Efforts in Jordan and Turkey
Turkey appealed to the U.N. Disaster Relief Organization on
September 7, 1990, for assistance in transporting people who did not
have the resources to move. The International Organization for Migra-
tion started moving people out of Turkey on September 9, 1990, and
repatriated a total of 8,000.
The Turkish Red Crescent Society, relying on its own resources to pro-
vide care to those in transit to their home countries, estimated that it
spent $615,000. The Turkish government incurred no costs.
Page 12
GAO/NSIAD-91-160 Persian Gulf Relief Effort


Appendix II
Roles and Responsibilities of International
Organizations in the Relief Effort
U.N. Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East
The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near
East provided a health team to one camp in Jordan and assisted in the
distribution of food. The agency also gave logistic support (trucking,
customs clearance, loading and unloading relief supplies) to the govern-
ment of Jordan, the World Food Program, UNICEF, and nongovernmental
organizations.
U.N. High Commissioner
for Refugees
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) did not play a major
role in the initial evacuation effort, according to agency officials. Its
efforts focused on legal assistance and protection for refugees, including
the determination of refugee status and the establishment of an assis-
tance project. This project was designed to meet the temporary needs of
an estimated 10,000 people, mostly Somalis, considered to be refugees.
Those fleeing Iraq and Kuwait were generally considered evacuees and
not refugees.
At UNDRO's request, however, UNHCR provided training to Jordanian offi-
cials in the techniques of managing camps and provided assistance for
the few asylum seekers and refugees who left Iraq. In addition, UNHCR
stocked emergency supplies to meet any future needs of refugees.
In Jordan, 630 refugees were handled by UNHCR from August to
November 1990. The majority of these were Somalis who went to Syria,
although a few were Ethiopians and Liberians. Currently, 1,100 Somalis
are considered refugees in Jordan, and UNHCR is assisting them.
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization provided health kits, water and sanita-
tion equipment, and other supplies. The organization later established
an environmental health project, including insect control, in the camps
and first aid stations along the Iraqi border to Aqaba. In addition, the
organization assisted the Jordanian Ministry of Health in replenishing
some of the medical stocks used during the relief effort.
World Food Program
World Food Program stocks for development projects in Jordan were
used in response to Jordan's appeal for emergency assistance to feed the
"A refugee is a person who, because of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race,
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the
country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to avail himself of the
protection of that country.
Page 15
GAO/NSLAD-91-160 Persian Gulf Relief Effort