EU Presidency Statement - Report of the UNHCR

Madam President,

I speak on behalf of the European Union. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe associated with the European Union (Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) and the associated countries (Cyprus, Malta) associate themselves with this declaration.

Let me begin by thanking Mrs Ogata most sincerely for the work she has done at the head of the UNHCR. The European Union salutes her personal commitment to the interests of refugees, her readiness to engage in constructive dialogue with States and all those involved in humanitarian work, and the energy with which she has run her organisation and adapted it to provide an optimum response to current realities and needs. During the past ten years the UNHCR has had major challenges to face, ranging from mass displacements of populations to shortcomings in the way the basic principles of asylum are applied. We pay tribute to the determination which the High Commissioner displayed in all circumstances.

I should also like to extend our warmest congratulations and best wishes to Mr Ruud Lubbers, who will succeed Mrs Ogata at the start of next year. The European Union greets this appointment with great satisfaction, for it manifests Europe's commitment to refugees and to asylum and will help to strengthen the dialogue between the European Union and the UNHCR. The European Union is certain that the new High Commissioner will acquit himself with great talent and success of the exacting task that falls to him.

The changeover will coincide with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the UNHCR. It is patently obvious that the context in which the Organisation works has changed enormously since its creation. The Executive Committee's discussion of this year's annual theme "from response to solutions" at the beginning of October was an opportunity to take stock of the action taken throughout all these years. Now it is a matter of drawing on that experience and using it as a basis for exploring new approaches to current problems. The European Union thanks the High Commissioner for her proposals in the Executive Committee and for her innovations, in particular the "Imagine coexistence" initiative.

The main difficulty facing humanitarian action is safety. A new type of conflict has emerged in which civilian populations are taken as targets but are also used as pawns in a strategic game. This has led to very many forced displacements and has plunged humanitarian personnel into the heart of the violence, with all the negative implications that has for their safety. What is more - as very recent dramatic incidents have unfortunately shown - humanitarian action itself can actually be targeted, because it stands in the way of political objectives. The European Union pays tribute to the courage of staff who are doing their job under ever more dangerous conditions. In September alone the UNHCR paid a very high price, with the loss of four of its members in West Timor and Guinea. This is an intolerable situation.

The European Union believes that such acts must not go unpunished and welcomes the fact that the Statute of the International Criminal Court makes attacks against personnel involved in humanitarian missions a crime. The Union is in favour of drafting a Protocol to the 1994 Convention on the Safety of United Nations Personnel extending it to cover all staff engaged on humanitarian operations. The European Union shares the Secretary -General's view that safety is neither a luxury nor an optional extra. That is why it considers it extremely important that the Secretary -General present a report on the rules for the engagement of humanitarian personnel in high -risk operations.

The European Union considers it important that the entire humanitarian community be involved in the safety debate. Every factor that can contribute to better conditions of safety must be taken into account, e.g. training of personnel or use of the latest communications technology. The report from the working group chaired by Mr Brahimi provides an opportunity to take a closer look at integrated strategies for preventing conflict and consolidating peace, in which humanitarian aspects have an important part to play. The safety of personnel is one aspect to be examined in this context. In line with the approach which Mrs Ogata has more than once suggested, the intermediate options should also be examined, e.g. deployment of civilian observers or an international police force.

The European Union is particularly concerned at situations in which inadequate safety conditions prevent the continuation of humanitarian action. It would point out that it is the responsibility of all parties engaged in armed conflict, including civil conflicts, and of States in particular, to respect international humanitarian law, protect civilian populations, ensure the safety of humanitarian personnel and allow unimpeded access to people in need of assistance.

It is also their responsibility to ensure, if necessary with the assistance of the international community, that there are no armed elements in refugee camps and that such camps are not made more vulnerable by virtue of the place in which they are located.

Assistance to internally displaced persons, which is the primary responsibility of States, is a problem which has rightly been the subject of much attention recently. It is essential that such people enjoy the protection and assistance to which they are entitled, which is not always the case at present. The European Union welcomes the efforts of the United Nations to be more effective in its action to assist these people. It is confident that generalised application of the "Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement" drawn up by the Secretary -General's representative, Mr Deng, will be a decisive factor here. It supports the interinstitutional approach and the plans for better coordination and more efficient assistance to displaced persons, under the leadership of the Emergency Relief Coordinator. It also welcomes the appointment of Mr McNamara as Special Coordinator for Internal Displacement.

The aim of humanitarian action is to provide relief for vulnerable populations, in compliance with the principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality. It must not be used to compensate for a lack of political will, or as an element of political strategy. To be effective, humanitarian action has to take an overall perspective and consider not only the individual in need of protection and assistance but the refugee population as a whole, so that the build -up of large numbers of refugees does not create overload or become a new factor of imbalance.

In the Executive Committee Mr Kofi Annan and Mrs Ogata both drew the attention of States to the financial needs of the UNHCR; they stressed that, while it is meeting the heavy demands made on it, it does not always receive the necessary support, resulting this year in a particularly large deficit. The European Union stresses the importance of an adequate and predictable financial base for the UNHCR. It has followed the UNHCR's efforts to prioritise and adapt its budget to the actual financing available. It calls on the UNHCR, in all its activities, to focus on its single task of providing protection and seeking sustainable solutions, and to use its coordination and emergency response capabilities. As the major donor, when the contributions from the Member States and the Commission are taken into account, the European Union calls for more joint reflection and collaboration and supports the efforts to achieve this aim. The European Union welcomes the initiatives which the UNHCR has taken in seeking new sources of support, particularly in the private sector. The quest for new partnerships, particularly in the field of communications or computerisation, should continue.

Situations which create forced displacements most often stem from serious violations of fundamental rights and freedoms. Respect for these rights is essential for crisis prevention, restoration of peace and stabilisation. The UNHCR is to be congratulated on its global vision of humanitarian situations and its collaboration with the other UN organisations, in particular those dealing with human rights. In this connection the European Union particularly appreciates the special attention paid to the situation of refugee children, which calls for particular vigilance. It welcomes recent advances, including the adoption of two optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular that on children in armed conflicts. It welcomes, too, the growing concern for the specific needs of women refugees, but also the recognition that they are capable of assuming responsibilities. In many areas, such as organising life in the camps or reconciliation, women have a decisive role to play.

The situations in which the UNHCR is required to act are extremely varied. Each case calls for an appropriate, and often emergency, response. The European Union applauds the UNHCR's efforts to step up its speed of reaction by creating an emergency response unit, and its determination to develop its evaluation capacity. It believes that the Organisation's efforts to restructure and modernise will soon bear fruit. The European Union trusts the UNHCR to ensure that decentralisation measures do not mean less information available and less action taking place at headquarters, with a consequent impoverishment of the dialogue with donors on crisis situations and operational responses, for to a very large extent it is that dialogue which determines the readiness of donors to contribute.

The excellent report presented by the High Commissioner on the UNHCR's activities in 1999 indicates that the number of persons under the UNHCR's protection has slightly increased, with the figure now standing at 22,3 million. Recent months have seen the re -emergence of the consequences of conflicts that were not properly resolved in several regions of Africa and, very recently indeed, in West Africa. Climatic conditions have aggravated the situation of many refugees and displaced persons in Africa and Asia. However, more than 1,6 million refugees returned to their homes in 1999. The European Union regards voluntary repatriation as the best long -term solution, but it can only be done in conditions of safety and dignity. The European Union invites agencies to take a better strategic approach and to propose solutions in which emergency action and development go together. Better linkage of such programmes would encourage donors to more wholehearted commitment. In this connection, the European Union urges the UNHCR to look further into the points raised at the round table held on the occasion of the Executive Committee's meeting.

In 2001 the Geneva Convention on Refugees will be 50 years old. Prompting from several governments and its own experience have led the UNHCR to launch a process of consultations on the 1951 Geneva Convention. There can be no disregarding the difficulties that arise from confusion between asylum seekers and migrants, but it is wrong that the quality of asylum should deteriorate, asylum seekers encounter obstacles in a growing number of countries and the protection offered diminish. The States of the European Union, which in the Treaty of Amsterdam reaffirmed their commitment to the values of asylum and to the 1951 Geneva Convention and its 1967 Protocol, will be glad to take part in these consultations, which in their view should emphasise the relevance of the basic principles of protection, not erode them. Similarly, they feel that the talks should confirm that the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol are and must continue to be the cornerstone of asylum.

The development of regional strategies plays a part in improving the quality of asylum. The approach adopted by the European Union is revealing, resulting as it does in an asylum policy based on full application of the 1951 Convention. In the spirit of the European Council in Tampere, the Union is continuing to work to harmonise the asylum policies of the Member States. It notes that many of the issues raised by the UNHCR in this round of consultations are currently under examination in the European Union.

The European Union is working in particular on a definition of the standards of protection to be applied in the event of a sudden mass influx of refugees following a serious crisis. It has also initiated a debate on harmonisation of the conditions for the reception of asylum seekers, for it appears that the current disparities are instrumental in determining where asylum seekers go, and are provoking secondary movements.

Finally, the European Union has just created a European Refugee Fund to finance measures for the reception of asylum seekers, integration of refugees and voluntary repatriation of those eligible. It could also be used for emergency measures in the event of a sudden mass influx of refugees.

The decade now ending was a decisive time for the UNHCR. It saw a doubling of its budget and staff. It confirmed that it has a vital role to play in serving the interests of refugees and the institution of asylum. It is a collective effort, led by Mrs Ogata, to whom I would once again extend my thanks. She bequeaths to her successor an instrument that is capable of adapting to the changing international situation and is engaged in a major process of modernisation.

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