UNHCR and the Global Cold War, 1971-1984
Annual Call for Projects 2006
Summary
Created in 1950 to solve the
problem of European refugees in the wake of World War II, the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has subsequently grown
to become a global operation that currently addresses the needs of over
19 million people. Beginning in the 1970’s, UNHCR experienced a sudden
expansion in its role in the developing world, where large-scale
humanitarian crises set in motion an evolution of norms and standard
setting with regard to refugee law and exposed the organisation to new
challenges. In particular, the organisation was charged with the
management of sudden mass refugee influxes, the construction of
extensive refugee camps, the procurement and distribution of food and
basic relief supplies on a scale previously unimagined, and the
carrying out of its humanitarian mandate in a highly politicised
climate shaped by East – West tension.
This collaborative, multidisciplinary project supported by the Geneva
International Academic Network (GIAN) will examine the records of UNHCR
field and headquarters operations during this crucial period and will
result in the creation of an online archival database and the
publication of original, policy relevant findings. With three closely
related components – archival processing to open up previously closed
records, original research/analysis, and dissemination – this project
will promote cooperation between the academic community and UNHCR in
order to contribute to understanding the successes and failures of the
international response to the humanitarian crises of the late 20th
century and to the important trends that emerged during this period.
The records addressed by this project and awaiting declassification and
archival processing consist of 222 linear meters of paper documents
covering the period 1971-1984. The processing of these documents will
preserve their physical state and enable scholars and policymakers to
access this crucial resource on late 20th century refugee crises.
The research and analysis component of the project will focus on the
nature and scope of the role of UNHCR from the late 1960s to the early
1980s, a period when a series of Cold War-related internal and
interstate conflicts produced massive refugee flows in Central America,
Southeast and Central Asia, and Africa. Placed at the center of a
global humanitarian crisis, UNHCR was increasingly challenged to
maintain a strict non-political character in dealing with refugees
fleeing communist-inspired regimes in Afghanistan, Ethiopia and
Nicaragua, while being funded and staffed almost entirely from the
Western states, and lacking in support from the Soviet bloc countries.
In Honduras and Pakistan, UNHCR was faced with the presence of armed
groups in the refugee camps. In Honduras, host to both Salvadoran and
Nicaraguan refugees, the situation was especially difficult as the
Nicaraguan contras enjoyed the support of both the Honduran and US
governments while refugees from El Salvador were fleeing a US-backed
military regime. In short, from Indo-China to Central America, UNHCR
during this period was charged with addressing the humanitarian needs
of populations involved in major protracted refugee situations marked
by East-West rivalry.
The project’s research will thus add considerable texture and nuance to
the understanding of the Cold War era while placing UNHCR within the
larger context of Cold War history. It will shed light on the broader
question of the extent to which international organisations matter in
global politics. In particular, the project’s findings will highlight
the fundamental, trans-disciplinary questions and phenomena that
emerged during this period for the first time.
These include:
- The militarisation of refugee camps (Pakistan, Thai-Cambodian border, Central America, Southern Africa);
-
The linkage between human rights violations and massive refugee
flows (Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Uganda, Chile, Zimbabwe, Burma,
Nicaragua, South Africa, El Salvador, Cuba, Haiti);
- Major Protracted Refugee Situations, many of continuing concern to UNHCR (Burundi, Chad, Somalia, Sudan, Western Sahara, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka);
- UNHCR involvement in situations of internal armed conflict (Central America, Afghanistan, Angola, Congo, Horn of Africa, Sudan);
- Renewed emphasis on repatriation and rehabilitation (Bangladesh, Equatorial Guinea, Central America, Zaire/Congo);
- The role of UNHCR as coordinator of large-scale UN assistance operations (Bangladesh, Sudan and Cyprus);
-
Increased focus on gender based persecution and on the special needs of refugee women.
These developments, initially highlighted by civil unrest, violence
and war on the African continent, were present in one form or another
in many of the humanitarian crises to which UNHCR responded during this
period, from Central and Latin America to the Middle East and South
East Asia. As a result, these decades witnessed an evolution of norms
and standard setting with regard to refugee law, and in particular an
expansion of the earlier legal framework for UNHCR activities. The
records of this series document these fundamental changes and their
underlying causes and provide rich material for future scholarship.
The project’s findings will be disseminated in a number of ways. The
creation of a web-based archive catalogue will provide a dynamic
central resource for strengthening the institutional memory of UNHCR as
well as serving as a knowledgebase for further research. The
researchers – based at the GIIS and the Geneva Centre for Security
Policy (GCSP) – will present the early findings at an international
conference to be held in Geneva in the fall of 2007. The conference
will be followed by the publication of an edited book consisting of
case studies, articles and documents, as well as individual research
projects and policy recommendations based on this unique group of
hitherto inaccessible records.
The grant provided by the GIAN for this project totals SFr 220,000
Project Team
Prof. Jussi Hanhimaki , Coordinator, Department of International History and Politics , Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS) .
Prof. Vincent Chetail , Principal Member, Department of International Law , Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS) .
Mr Jérôme Elie , Principal Member, Department of International History and Politics , Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS) .
Prof. Vera Gowlland-Debbas , Principal Member, Department of International Law , Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS) .
Mr Lee McDonald , Principal Member, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) .
Ms Katrin Milzow , Principal Member, Department of International History and Politics , Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS) .
Mr Rüdiger Schöch , Principal Member, Department of International History and Politics , Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS) .
Dr. Fred Tanner , Principal Member, Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) , Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) .
Ms Anna Julia Begemann , Associated Member, Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS) .
Mr Bernhard Blumenau , Associated Member, Department of International History and Politics , Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS) .
Ms Eileen Galang , Associated Member, Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS) .
Ms Leah Malabonga , Associated Member, Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS) .
Ms Carla Helena Traub , Associated Member, Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS) .
Ms Nadia Yeddes , Associated Member, Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS) .
Related Links
Related News
-
The GIAN Approves Eleven Research Projects – 19.09.06
The Geneva International Academic Network (RUIG-GIAN) has approved, in the framework of its sixth annual tendering...
> more
Related Conferences
The UNHCR and the Global Cold War, 1971-1984 - Public Conference, HEI, ch. de la Voie-Creuse 16, 19 October 2007, 9:00 am to 7:00 pm
The project "UNHCR and the Global Cold War" supported by the Geneva International Academic Network (GIAN) has examined...
> more
Research Output
The UNHCR and the Cold War: A Documented Reflection on the UNHCR's Activities in the Bipolar Context
(available in English only) > more |
UNHCR and the Global Cold War: Article Published in the "Transatlantic Studies Association Newsletter"
(available in English only) > more |