Sadako Ogata; Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley
This lecture was given at the University of California, Berkeley, on April 1, 1992. See also biographical information about Sadako Ogata and interviews, 1992 and 1999.
am very honored and pleased to be invited to present the 1992 Sanford S. Elberg Lecture in International Studies. I am particularly pleased to have this opportunity to address you on the subject of refugees and displaced persons not only because of its humanitarian significance, but also because of its impact on international peace and stability. The huge outpouring of migrant workers and evacuees preceding the Persian Gulf War and the plight of refugees and displaced persons following it reflected in a microcosm the kind of population movements that we are witnessing as we come to the end of the twentieth century. I am convinced that if the post-Cold War world is to reach a new order, the problem of displacement must be addressed effectively and humanely. Therefore, in my lecture this afternoon I would like to examine first the changing nature of the refugee problem in the post-Cold War era; second, the new opportunities for conflict resolution that multilateral cooperation is producing; and finally, the challenges which confront us in developing an effective response to the refugee problem in a conflict-ridden world.
opulation movements are indicative of a world in turmoil. Indeed, the first High Commissioner for Refugees was appointed more than seventy years ago by the League of Nations at a time when Europe was still reeling from the destruction of the First World War, the disintegration of empires, and the effects of the Russian revolution. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the United Nations was confronted with a similar tragedy of uprootedness and exile in a Europe divided by the Iron Curtain. This led to the creation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1951. Most refugees at that time were fleeing from totalitarian regimes in Eastern Europe. Viewed as victims of persecution, they were readily accepted and integrated in the Western democracies. This comfortable convergence between humanitarian traditions and political objectives made UNHCR's task of developing adequate legal structures for the protection and integration of refugees in countries of asylum a relatively easy one.
By the early 1960s, refugee movements had changed in nature from individual flight to large-scale exodus as the process of decolonization took its human toll, mainly in the African continent. There was strong solidarity for those fleeing the effects of national liberation wars, and the large numbers of refugees who poured out of Algeria, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Zaire, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, for instance, were hospitably received in neighboring countries. International assistance was provided through UNHCR, and eventually UNHCR helped them to return home when their countries gained independence.
The situation worsened dramatically in the following two decades as Cold War rivalries were transmitted into a polarized and heavily armed Third World, exacerbating tensions and leading to regional or internal conflicts. These wars produced displacement on an unprecedented scale in and out of Mozambique, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Liberia, Angola, Indochina, Central America, and Afghanistan. The refugee population, which was around eight million at the end of the 1970s, had surpassed seventeen million by 1991. Most of the refugees were not fleeing political persecution as much as violence, conflict, and insecurity fueled by political repression, poverty, recurrent famine, and environmental degradation. The paralysis of international relations which marked the Cold War impeded any resolution of these conflicts. Consequently, millions of refugees continued to stagnate in over-crowded camps in countries which had neither the political will nor the economic capacity to absorb these growing numbers. The international community, with little scope for pursuing either repatriation or integration of refugees, could at best provide only humanitarian assistance to meet basic needs.
Next page: The Changing Nature of the Problem
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