UNHCRジュネーブ(12月14日)発
アントニオ・グテーレス国連難民高等弁務官は、UNHCRの創立60周年を記念した声明で急速に変容しつつある世界における難民問題に対して、国際社会の一層の支援を呼びかけた。
「UNHCRの使命は元来、紛争や迫害によって国境を越えた難民の支援でした。しかし現在、極度の貧困や気候変動によって国境を越えるケースが増えています。また、これらに紛争が重なり合い、ますます問題は複雑になってきています。国際社会はこの新たな難民問題に立ち向かわなければなりません。」
60年前の1950年12月14日、UNHCRは国連総会によって創設された。
その誕生当時の目的は、第二次大戦後のヨーロッパ内の難民の救済にあったが、すぐにその活動範囲は拡大した。今日では、UNHCRは世界のあらゆる場所で移動を余儀なくされている人の保護や支援などに取り組んでいる。世界の難民、国内避難民、庇護申請者の数は合わせて4,300万人。そのほとんどがUNHCRの支援対象者である。
二度のノーベル平和賞受賞を含むUNHCRの過去60年間の活動を振り返りながらも、グテーレス高等弁務官はこれから直面するであろう新たな困難に焦点を当てた。
「これまでのUNHCRの活動を評価するのは大切なことです。死の危険にさらされた人にとって、UNHCRとは生きる希望でありました。全てを失った人に帰る家を提供し、病から救い、過酷な人権侵害に対しての盾となってきました。誇りに思うべき事柄は多々あるものの、それ以上に多くの困難に直面しているのが現状です。今後数年間はさらに難しい局面に立ち向かわなければならないでしょう。」
今週から始まるUNHCR創立60周年は、1951年難民の地位に関する条約制定60周年(2011年7月28日)、1961年無国籍者の削減に関する条約50周年(2011年8月30日)、フリチョフ・ナンセン国際連盟初代難民高等弁務官の生誕150周年(2011年10月10日)、および日本の難民条約加入30周年(2011年10月3日)と重なる。
UNHCRはこれらをきっかけに、難民や無国籍者を対象とした国際法の枠組み強化に向けて働きかけを行なう。その一環として、各国政府にも主要な関連条約への加盟を促進していく考えだ。
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UNHCR駐日事務所 広報室 (担当:守屋)
〒107-0062
東京都港区南青山6-10-11
ウェスレーセンター
電話:03-3499-2011/2310
FAX:03-3499-2272
Email: [email protected]
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GENEVA, December 14 (UNHCR) – The head of the UN refugee agency, António Guterres, marked today’s 60th anniversary of the organization he heads by appealing for strengthened global impetus in tackling the world’s new and fast-evolving displacement and statelessness problems.
Speaking at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva, Guterres warned of multiple new factors that are causing displacement. He said many of these did not exist at the time of UNHCR’s founding or when the major international refugee and statelessness conventions were created.
“UNHCR traditionally was supporting refugees, people that would cross a border because of a
conflict or persecution,” he said. “But now we see that more and more people are crossing borders because of extreme poverty, because of the impact of climate change, [and] because of their interrelation with conflict. So there are new patterns of forced displacement and the international community needs to be able to tackle those challenges.”
UNHCR was created on 14th December 1950 by the UN General Assembly. Its original purpose was to address the post-World War II refugee situation in Europe, but its work quickly expanded. By 1956 it was facing its first major international emergency with the outpouring of refugees when Soviet forces crushed the Hungarian Revolution.
In the 1960s, the decolonization of Africa produced the first of that continent’s numerous refugee crises needing UNHCR intervention. Over the following two decades, UNHCR had to help with displacement crises in Asia and Latin America. Today it deals with major displacement situations around the world. The global population of refugees, internally displaced people, and asylum seekers stands at 43 million people – most of them under UNHCR’s duty of care.
Guterres pointed to major displacement from Somalia and Afghanistan, as examples of 21st
century refugee problems that extend across multiple borders and require new and globalized
approaches to finding solutions. He also highlighted the phenomenon of statelessness as requiring particular attention.
But on UNHCR’s anniversary and its achievements over 60 years – which include twice being
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize – Guterres said the focus should be on coming challenges which would equal anything the agency has faced in its past.
“I think it is very important to recognize that the action of UNHCR has represented for many
people life instead of death, home instead of total deprivation, health instead of a disease that can even represent the risk to die, protection against the most dramatic violations of human rights…” he said. “We have many reasons to be proud, but we also have much more reason to be concerned with the challenges we face at the present moment, and recognizing that unfortunately the root causes of conflict and displacement are not being eliminated and the next few years will be as challenging as the past.”
UNHCR’s 60th anniversary year, which begins this week, coincides with several related anniversaries, including the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of
Refugees (28 July 2011), the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of
Statelessness (30th August 2011), and the 150th anniversary of the birth of Fridtjof Nansen, the first League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (10th October 2011).
Over the coming months UNHCR will be using these occasions to push for strengthening of the international legal framework for dealing with the world’s statelessness and displaced, including through increased state accessions to the key refugee and statelessness conventions.
Further information ( for accompanying multimedia files, see also www.unhcr.org/60th – available from PM GMT 13th December 2010 )
• The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950. It became operational on January 1st 1951.
• UNHCR provides protection to refugees and other displaced people, on a non-political and
humanitarian basis. It also seeks permanent solutions for them.
• Globally there are 43 million forcibly displaced people, the majority under UNHCR’s duty of care. (15.2 million refugees, 27.1 million internally displaced, 983,000 asylum seekers).
• Globally, and by some estimates, there are as many as 12 million stateless people. UNHCR has identified 6.6 million of these in 60 countries.
• Over the past 60 years UNHCR has been able to save millions of lives, by bringing donor funds and international political will to bear on the world’s refugee problems on a scale unimaginable prior to its founding.
• In addition to saving lives, UNHCR has helped millions of people to rebuild lives, to return safely home or to find new homes.
• UNHCR’s contributions to world peace have been recognized with Nobel Peace prizes in 1954 and 1981.
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