Preventive Action for Refugee Producing Situations

144 Chapter 4
situation of the wars in the Gulf and in former Yugoslavia. And yet the
term prevention has bravely survived in the discussions for finding
solutions in these senseless wars. Bitter ethnic conflicts, senseless killing,
violence and evictions have led to the displacement of more than four
million people within and outside Iraq and the former Yugoslavia.
As the High Commissioner Madame Ogata also said in her Graz
speech in May 1992:
For forty years, refugee policies and practices were affected by the predomiant
power struggle for global dominance, which was the Cold War. It was
international support for victims of communist persecution and repression, which
in 1951 led to the establishment of UNHCR to protect and assist individuals
seeking refuge in free and democratic countries of the West In those days the
problem appeared relatively simple. Flight from regimes in the East made the
granting of asylum in the West an act of benevolence, and protection against
refoulement self-evident Voluntary repatriation was inconceivable, and
integration in countries of asylum or resettlement the only real solution. The
1951 Convention was adopted, acceded to and respected by many States.
Protection of the individual under the supervision of UNHCR was agreed on.
Since then, liberation wars and ethnic strife caused mass refugee
movements, but there was hope and generosity. With the 1969 OAU
Convention on Refugees, violence as a cause of flight, asylum as a way of
protection and voluntary repatriation as the ideal solution were adopted.
Other regions in the Southern hemishere showed a similar combination of
pragmatism and vision in the way they dealt with refugee-producing
problems. 340
The 1992 Note on International Protection of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees highlights prevention as one of the main
elements of protection. The internal Working group on international
protection of UNHCR, which in early 1992 reviewed UNHCR's
protection activities, recognized:
the need to give greater content to a role for UNHCR vis-a-vis countries of
origin, including in the area of prevention. Here, the challenge is to develop a
balanced and effective refugee policy which includes new options on prevention.
Early warning, preventive diplomacy, human rights promotion, economic
_______________________
340 Statement by Mrs. Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees at the Academic Graz International Conference "Fortress Europe?
Refugees and Migrants: Their Human Rights and Dignity", Graz, Austria,
23 May 1992, p. 1-4.
New Approaches and Policies 145
and social development and protection of internally displaced persons were
areas agreed on for specific UNHCR initiatives. The internal working group
felt that inter-agency cooperation was particularly important, considering
the complementarity of mandates and expertise in the UN.
The UN can look back to more than 40 years of conflict prevention
efforts, which during the Cold War had limited possibilities for contributing
to prevent refugee-producing situations. UN-conflict prevention, after the
East-West-conflict, is likely to be more successful. Therefore, an
examination of the mandate, methods, facilities and funding of the UN
conflict-prevention efforts are relevant for a proper understanding of the
subject. We will review them before discussing the new Department for
Humanitarian Affairs and before more specifically looking at new
approaches for UNHCR's information on and preventive protection in
countries of origin.
4.1.1 UN Conflict Prevention: Experience and Prospects: 341
Many conflict situations overwhelmed the power of the Security Council
during the Cold War period. Still, a number of regional conflicts could be
contained or decreased, which possibly otherwise could have led to
confrontations of the superpowers. 342
The concept of preventing conflicts has been used for many years. Dag
Hammarskjold for the first time in the late 1950s coined the term of
PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY. The UN's peace-keeping experience is the
largest in the world and is recognized world wide. The Nobel Peace Prize
for Peace-keepers in 1988 is just a testimony in recognition of their
accomplishments. Peace-making, with activities in political and I diplomatic
reconciliation, mediation and arbitration, good offices and fact-finding have
made some progress, especially since there is no longer superpower
confrontation. However, its effectiveness is still totally
________________________________
341 This chapter is based on a paper delivered by the author at the
International Seminar organized by the Finnish Institute of International
Affairs on "The Art of Conflict Prevention: Theory and Praxis of the UN,
EC/WEU, NATO, CSCE and the CIS" in Helsinki on 2 June 1992 after
interviews with competent officials at the UN-headquarters in April 1992,
whose cooperation is herewith gratefully acknowledged.
342 See: Brian Urquhart, "Mehr als eine Action von Hilfssheriffen", in: Die
Blauhelme, Im Einsatz für Frieden, Hrsg. Ernst Koch, 1991 Report Verlag,
p. 57