UN Refugee Official Urges Peaceful Action

Flanked by the flags of the United States and the United Nations, Sadako Ogata, United Nations high commissioner for refugees, spoke last night at the ARCO Forum, emphasizing the importance of diplomacy instead of military intervention and calling for renewed leadership in humanitarian intervention.

"Why put all of our cards in military intervention--and why must we wait until human suffering becomes so intolerable that we must risk disturbing the fragile web of international relations?" Ogata asked during her speech, titled "On the Humanitarian Frontline: New Challenges in Refugee Assistance."

Ogata was appointed high commissioner in 1991 after serving as the dean of faculty of foreign studies at Tokyo's Sophia University since 1989. Her association with the United Nations when she was appointed a minister in 1976. She later served as delegate to the U.N. general assembly from Japan.

Ogata has been involved with refugees most recently in East Timor, as well as Kosovo, Rwanda and other hotspots around the world.

"We would like to think that the excursions will help her to oil her analytical tools and help her when she has to deal with the next crisis," said Samantha Power, executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, as she introduced Ogata.

According to Ogata, military intervention in domestic crises can create instability, necessitating the type of intervention her organization offers.

"Rather than face the difficult choices of humanitarian action, I would rather rely on the difficult choices of political and diplomatic negotiation," Ogata said.

She also called for increased worldwide leadership for effective humanitarian intervention and conflict resolution.

"It will require international leadership, leadership of a perhaps reformed Security Council, and the mature leadership of the United States," she said. "Leadership that is not just responding to polls, but forward-looking and global in approach."

Ogata questioned many of the political and military decisions that affect her work.

"Could a stronger, more coherent political solution have prevented the so-called humanitarian intervention that is now pushing out thousands of refugees out of Kosovo?" Ogata said, referring to the NATO airstrikes in the Balkans.

She also discussed the changes in the refugee problems that occurred in the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse.

"Today's wars kill civilians with unpredictable viciousness. And there is no predictable mechanism to stop them," Ogata said. "They produce refugees as an objective rather than on the sidelines."

In light of these changing situations, Ogata suggested two ways to adjust methods of intervention: recreating governments and rebuilding divided societies.

"We must do more creative thinking at designing and creating projects that aim at bringing together divided countries," Ogata said.

After the talk, many of the questions Ogata answered focused on her involvement in Kosovo.

Zayed M. Yasin '02, who worked with Kosovar refugees over the summer, asked about the perception amongst other humanitarian organizations that United Nations High Commission for Refugees responded slowly and bureaucratically.

"Her opinions on policy were thoughtful but she seemed unwilling or unable to confront any of the serious problems within the high commission on refugees," Yasin said of Ogata's answer to his question.