Interview: António Guterres

From Darfur to Afghanistan, the U.N.’s point man on refugees says, the world’s conflicts are getting “more worrisome and more difficult to solve.”

INTERVIEW BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | MARCH 23, 2010

As High Commissioner for refugees at the United Nations, António Guterres monitors the safety, security, and well being of the some 10.5 million refugees in the world today. And though that figure is down by 8 percent from 2009, thanks mostly to returns and changes of status among the displaced from Iraq and Colombia, the challenge it poses is still enormous. Now, as he comes to the end of his five-year term, Guterres reflects on fast-changing situations in Sudan, Iraq, and Afghanistan. "Conflicts are not getting better," he tells Foreign Policy's Elizabeth Dickinson. Excerpts:

Foreign Policy: You just got back from the Central African Republic (CAR), a country caught in the middle of the continent, amid conflicts in Sudan, Chad, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). What did you see?

António Guterres: CAR represents the most ignored and forgotten human tragedy in the world. It's not the biggest human tragedy in the world -- DRC, for instance, presents a bigger tragedy -- but I believe the number of people aware of its existence is very small. CAR is a country of 4 million inhabitants, bigger than France and Belgium, in which you have about 200,000 people displaced. And you have a very complex governance problem. The truth is that half of the territory of the country is completely lawless, and it's becoming an international problem. You have Central African Republicans that go to Cameroon to kill, hijack, and rob.

FP: Many have cited improvements in the related conflicts in Darfur and Eastern Chad in recent months. Do you see that?

AG: It's still too early to fully [say], but there are recent developments that represent a potential change for the better. First, Chad and Sudan have made an agreement that's apparently more solid than past agreements [which have fallen apart]. They've agreed to fully normalize relations and establish common patrol forces along the border area. It's clear that there won't be any support for the other country's rebels, especially because the key rebel element in the Darfur situation that had been supported by Chad, the Justice and Equality Movement, has also made an agreement with Khartoum.

Some might argue that the key problem in Sudan is now the North-South relationship, because there will be a referendum [on southern independence in 2011], and the possible creation of a new state [South Sudan]. There might be a genuine interest in Khartoum to have a more manageable situation in Darfur.

FP: Is your agency preparing any contingencies for the April elections in Sudan?

AG: Everyone should contribute [to a peaceful elections environment] so that things take place in a harmonious way. But of course it's important to be prepared for whatever might occur. So today this is one of our key concerns. And for us, Southern Sudan has regained priority for our operations in Sudan.

FP: Let's move to the situation of Iraqi refugees and their slow return home. Are things progressing?

AG: There have been some returns from Syria and Jordan to Iraq. But we've been witnessing a trend for a core of people to remain [outside Iraq]. Our two key challenges now are: first, the preservation of asylum space and protection space in the surrounding countries, and second, to improve the functionality of the government's support to returning people from inside and outside Iraq. We now have a presence in 14 districts in Iraq, but there is no way the international community or civil society can replace the need to have a functioning state to deal with these problems.

TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images

 

António Guterres is U.N. high commissioner for refugees. Elizabeth Dickinson is assistant managing editor at FP.

LHG

3:42 AM ET

March 25, 2010

climate change & conflict

I am always sceptical when people cite one or two variables as 'causes' of violent conflict. I am glad, however, that Mr Guterres notes - if only in passing - that it is a mixture of many factors that may lead to conflict. However, what is not clear here, is that there are intervening variables which may actually prevent conflict, like religious or cultural beliefs for example, specific to a country. Natural resource scarcity due to climate change does not necessarily lead to or enhance the possibilities of the outbreak of conflict. More likely is the recognition by governments, for political or econonically driven motives, to cite these 'causes' as conflict enhancers rather than admitting their own incompentance in service delivery or resource management. As climate change and resource depletion does not, of course, observe territorial boundaries or maps, we may well see a revert to large scale inter-state wars.