Sadako Ogata’s Will
NISHIKAWA Megumi / Journalist
November 7, 2019
The United Nations high Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), a UN agency dealing with humanitarian assistance and refugees, used to be regarded as being on the sidelines and not particularly important. It came suddenly into the limelight in the 1990s, not because the refugee problem suddenly became more serious, but because of a lady called Sadako Ogata.
If she had not been appointed as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (1991 ~ 2000) leading this agency, UNHCR might have been unable to deal with the refugee problem effectively, and could have been branded as “useless”. In order to meet the pressing need to protect the refugees, she ventured valiantly into areas hitherto untouched by UNHCR, and went about constructing new approaches to tackle the challenges.
Up until then, only those who fled outside the border of their own country were recognized as refugees, and those who stayed within the border were deemed to be outside UNHCR protection. Faced with the challenge of Kurdish people within Iraq for the first time, Mrs. Ogata expanded the mandate of UNHCR to include the protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs), and devised new schemes such as “Temporary Protection”. In order to respond promptly and effectively to the rapidly changing environment for humanitarian assistance, she brought about the establishment of an emergency response mechanism within the UN system.
She also took steps to work with military forces in humanitarian operations, something thus far regarded with reluctance by UNHCR. It was based on her practical judgment that military forces were needed for humanitarian assistance and protection of refugees in conflict areas, while there were limits to what humanitarian agencies could do. Some criticized these new approaches as “expansionism”, but as she put it, “Other agencies either lacked the resolve or were unprepared. We had no choice but to do it.”
It was then the accepted wisdom among the countries concerned that the refugee problem was unrelated to politics. Mrs. Ogata kept arguing that it was by its very nature a political problem. In 1992, she was called by the UN Security Council to report on the issue of ethnic cleansing in former Yugoslavia. It was exceptional for a humanitarian agency to be asked to make a report to the Security Council. It was then that the refugee problem was placed at the center of the political debate.
When she became the President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) (2003~2013), she injected into her job the expertise garnered through her involvement in the refugee problem. With respect to the Mindanao conflict in the Philippines, where the Islamic guerrillas and the government forces clashed for a number of years, she dispatched a JICA staff expert on development to join the International Monitoring Team in 2006, when peace settlement had not yet been reached. It was the first time that Japan involved itself in development assistance to an area where there was no peace agreement yet. She justified her decision as follows: Development assistance, being large in scale, takes time to get started. If we start preparing for development assistance in parallel with the efforts to restore order and to build peace, we can start the process of reconstruction sooner following the peace agreement.
The Japanese government dispatched Self Defense Forces units to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) and Kenya for relief of Rwandan refugees. This was the first example of Japan’s international humanitarian relief operation at its own initiative under the International Peace Cooperation, not as a part of UN peacekeeping forces. Mrs. Ogata’s strong appeal moved Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama to make this decision.
Among journalists covering humanitarian assistance and development issues, there must be few, if any, who have not attended Sadako Ogata’s press conferences. I personally have had a number of opportunities to see her, including interviews. Her openness to the media was based on her belief that it would serve her and her organization’s interest to do so. She said, “If an organization remains fixe in its conservative ways, it will be left behind by society”. It was symbolic that the staff of UNHCR, previous known for its closed approach to the media, started actively cultivating the media with information on their activities some time after Ogata’s appointment.
When she assumed office at UNHCR, she said that she wished to see Japan occupy the position of a “humanitarian major power”. In her book published 15 years later, she had this to say about the Japanese government’s attitude to refugees who come to Japan seeking protection:
“Transparent management of the system based on humanitarian considerations has not been established yet, and satisfactory results are yet to come.”
Megumi Nishikawa is Contributing Editor for the Mainichi Shimbun Newspaper.
If she had not been appointed as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (1991 ~ 2000) leading this agency, UNHCR might have been unable to deal with the refugee problem effectively, and could have been branded as “useless”. In order to meet the pressing need to protect the refugees, she ventured valiantly into areas hitherto untouched by UNHCR, and went about constructing new approaches to tackle the challenges.
Up until then, only those who fled outside the border of their own country were recognized as refugees, and those who stayed within the border were deemed to be outside UNHCR protection. Faced with the challenge of Kurdish people within Iraq for the first time, Mrs. Ogata expanded the mandate of UNHCR to include the protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs), and devised new schemes such as “Temporary Protection”. In order to respond promptly and effectively to the rapidly changing environment for humanitarian assistance, she brought about the establishment of an emergency response mechanism within the UN system.
She also took steps to work with military forces in humanitarian operations, something thus far regarded with reluctance by UNHCR. It was based on her practical judgment that military forces were needed for humanitarian assistance and protection of refugees in conflict areas, while there were limits to what humanitarian agencies could do. Some criticized these new approaches as “expansionism”, but as she put it, “Other agencies either lacked the resolve or were unprepared. We had no choice but to do it.”
It was then the accepted wisdom among the countries concerned that the refugee problem was unrelated to politics. Mrs. Ogata kept arguing that it was by its very nature a political problem. In 1992, she was called by the UN Security Council to report on the issue of ethnic cleansing in former Yugoslavia. It was exceptional for a humanitarian agency to be asked to make a report to the Security Council. It was then that the refugee problem was placed at the center of the political debate.
When she became the President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) (2003~2013), she injected into her job the expertise garnered through her involvement in the refugee problem. With respect to the Mindanao conflict in the Philippines, where the Islamic guerrillas and the government forces clashed for a number of years, she dispatched a JICA staff expert on development to join the International Monitoring Team in 2006, when peace settlement had not yet been reached. It was the first time that Japan involved itself in development assistance to an area where there was no peace agreement yet. She justified her decision as follows: Development assistance, being large in scale, takes time to get started. If we start preparing for development assistance in parallel with the efforts to restore order and to build peace, we can start the process of reconstruction sooner following the peace agreement.
The Japanese government dispatched Self Defense Forces units to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) and Kenya for relief of Rwandan refugees. This was the first example of Japan’s international humanitarian relief operation at its own initiative under the International Peace Cooperation, not as a part of UN peacekeeping forces. Mrs. Ogata’s strong appeal moved Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama to make this decision.
Among journalists covering humanitarian assistance and development issues, there must be few, if any, who have not attended Sadako Ogata’s press conferences. I personally have had a number of opportunities to see her, including interviews. Her openness to the media was based on her belief that it would serve her and her organization’s interest to do so. She said, “If an organization remains fixe in its conservative ways, it will be left behind by society”. It was symbolic that the staff of UNHCR, previous known for its closed approach to the media, started actively cultivating the media with information on their activities some time after Ogata’s appointment.
When she assumed office at UNHCR, she said that she wished to see Japan occupy the position of a “humanitarian major power”. In her book published 15 years later, she had this to say about the Japanese government’s attitude to refugees who come to Japan seeking protection:
“Transparent management of the system based on humanitarian considerations has not been established yet, and satisfactory results are yet to come.”
Megumi Nishikawa is Contributing Editor for the Mainichi Shimbun Newspaper.
The English-Speaking Union of Japan
緒方貞子さんの遺言
西川 恵 / ジャーナリスト
2019年 11月 7日
国連の傍流の、たいして重要でない組織と見られていた人道支援や難民問題を扱う国連難民高等弁務官事務所（ＵＮＨＣＲ）が、１９９０年代になって一躍脚光を浴び出したのは難民問題が深刻になったからではない。緒方貞子という一人の女性がいたからである。
もし彼女がＵＮＨＣＲを率いる国連難民高等弁務官（９１～２０００年）になっていなかったら、組織は難民問題に効果的に対応できず、「無用」の烙印を押されていた可能性もあったと私は思う。彼女は切迫した難民保護のため、ＵＮＨＣＲが手を付けなかった領域に果敢に踏み込み、新しい取り組みを作っていった。
従来、難民と認定されるのは国外に流出した人だけで、国内にとどまった国内避難民は保護の対象外だった。彼女は最初に直面したイラク国内のクルド人問題で国内避難民も難民として扱い、「一時的保護」などの手法を編み出した。急速に変化する人道支援の環境に機敏かつ効果的に対応するため、国連の中に緊急対応メカニズムの設置も実現させた。
それまでＵＮＨＣＲが慎重だった軍との協調行動にも踏み込む。「紛争地の人道支援や難民保護には軍隊が必要。人道機関だけでは無理です」との現実的判断からだった。一連の新しい取り組みに「拡大主義」との批判もあったが「他の組織に覚悟や準備がないため、私たちがやらなければならなかった」と語っている。
難民問題は政治とは無関係という認識の各国に、政治問題そのものであると訴え続けたのも彼女だった。９２年、国連安保理に呼ばれ、旧ユーゴスラビアの民族浄化問題を報告した。人道機関が安保理で報告を求められるのは異例のことで、この時、難民問題が政治討議の中心に据えられた。
国際協力機構（ＪＩＣＡ）の理事長（０３～１３年）になってからは難民問題での経験を注ぎ込んだ。イスラムゲリラと政府軍が長年衝突してきたフィリピンのミンダナオ紛争では、和平合意にまだ達していない０６年にＪＩＣＡの開発専門職員を現地に派遣し、国際監視団と行動を共にさせた。和平合意がまだできていない段階で、日本が開発援助に関わったのは初めてだった。「開発援助は大きなものであるだけに出足が遅い。紛争終結前の、治安回復、和平構築の動きと並行して開発支援の準備を進めれば、和平合意後の再建への立ち上がりは早くなる」との判断だった。
日本政府は９４年、ルワンダ難民救援のため自衛隊をザイール（現コンゴ民主共和国）とケニアなどに派遣した。国連の部隊としてではなく、国際平和協力法に基づく日本主体の人道的な国際救援活動としては最初の例で、ここには緒方さんの強い要望を入れた村山富市首相の決断があった。
難民や人道支援、開発問題をカバーするジャーナリストで緒方さんの会見に出なかった人はまずいないだろう。私もインタビューを含め幾度となくお世話になった。緒方さんが報道機関にオープンな態度で接したのは、そうすることが自分たちにも必要なこととの認識があったからだ。「組織が保守的なままでいたら社会から取り残されます」と。それまで報道機関に閉鎖的だったＵＮＨＣＲの職員が、緒方さんが国連難民高等弁務官に就いてしばらくすると積極的に自分たちの活動を報道機関に広報し始めたのは象徴的だった。
ＵＮＨＣＲに赴任する時、緒方さんは「日本は『人道大国』の地位を占めてほしい」と語った。１５年後に出したその著書で、保護を求めて来日する難民への日本政府の対応をこう指摘している。「人道的配慮に基づく制度の透明な運営がいまだ確立されておらず、まだ満足すべき成果を収めるにいたっていない」と。
筆者は毎日新聞社客員編集委員
もし彼女がＵＮＨＣＲを率いる国連難民高等弁務官（９１～２０００年）になっていなかったら、組織は難民問題に効果的に対応できず、「無用」の烙印を押されていた可能性もあったと私は思う。彼女は切迫した難民保護のため、ＵＮＨＣＲが手を付けなかった領域に果敢に踏み込み、新しい取り組みを作っていった。
従来、難民と認定されるのは国外に流出した人だけで、国内にとどまった国内避難民は保護の対象外だった。彼女は最初に直面したイラク国内のクルド人問題で国内避難民も難民として扱い、「一時的保護」などの手法を編み出した。急速に変化する人道支援の環境に機敏かつ効果的に対応するため、国連の中に緊急対応メカニズムの設置も実現させた。
それまでＵＮＨＣＲが慎重だった軍との協調行動にも踏み込む。「紛争地の人道支援や難民保護には軍隊が必要。人道機関だけでは無理です」との現実的判断からだった。一連の新しい取り組みに「拡大主義」との批判もあったが「他の組織に覚悟や準備がないため、私たちがやらなければならなかった」と語っている。
難民問題は政治とは無関係という認識の各国に、政治問題そのものであると訴え続けたのも彼女だった。９２年、国連安保理に呼ばれ、旧ユーゴスラビアの民族浄化問題を報告した。人道機関が安保理で報告を求められるのは異例のことで、この時、難民問題が政治討議の中心に据えられた。
国際協力機構（ＪＩＣＡ）の理事長（０３～１３年）になってからは難民問題での経験を注ぎ込んだ。イスラムゲリラと政府軍が長年衝突してきたフィリピンのミンダナオ紛争では、和平合意にまだ達していない０６年にＪＩＣＡの開発専門職員を現地に派遣し、国際監視団と行動を共にさせた。和平合意がまだできていない段階で、日本が開発援助に関わったのは初めてだった。「開発援助は大きなものであるだけに出足が遅い。紛争終結前の、治安回復、和平構築の動きと並行して開発支援の準備を進めれば、和平合意後の再建への立ち上がりは早くなる」との判断だった。
日本政府は９４年、ルワンダ難民救援のため自衛隊をザイール（現コンゴ民主共和国）とケニアなどに派遣した。国連の部隊としてではなく、国際平和協力法に基づく日本主体の人道的な国際救援活動としては最初の例で、ここには緒方さんの強い要望を入れた村山富市首相の決断があった。
難民や人道支援、開発問題をカバーするジャーナリストで緒方さんの会見に出なかった人はまずいないだろう。私もインタビューを含め幾度となくお世話になった。緒方さんが報道機関にオープンな態度で接したのは、そうすることが自分たちにも必要なこととの認識があったからだ。「組織が保守的なままでいたら社会から取り残されます」と。それまで報道機関に閉鎖的だったＵＮＨＣＲの職員が、緒方さんが国連難民高等弁務官に就いてしばらくすると積極的に自分たちの活動を報道機関に広報し始めたのは象徴的だった。
ＵＮＨＣＲに赴任する時、緒方さんは「日本は『人道大国』の地位を占めてほしい」と語った。１５年後に出したその著書で、保護を求めて来日する難民への日本政府の対応をこう指摘している。「人道的配慮に基づく制度の透明な運営がいまだ確立されておらず、まだ満足すべき成果を収めるにいたっていない」と。
筆者は毎日新聞社客員編集委員
一般社団法人 日本英語交流連盟