Sophia Magazine vol.4 / WINTER 2016

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Professor Uramoto (U): I am certain that we have a wide range of exciting topics to choose among for our conversation today. To begin with, I would like to ask you a personal ques-tion. Having worked for UNICEF for many years, I have come to know what great work UNHCR does in the field. You have been with UNHCR for 20 years. What has your work come to mean to you? Mr. Hebecker (H): People think of it as a very difficult and noble job, but above all for me personally it is a huge privi-lege. Dedicating my life to making the suffering of people who have had to go through tremendous tragedies more bearable is something that gives me a feeling of accomplishment on a daily basis. My job allows me to work in many countries, to be embedded in local communities and experience different cultures in a deeper way. U: The ongoing crisis in Syria has caused the number of refu-gees entering Europe to skyrocket. What has UNHCR’s re-sponse to this surge been? H: As an organization, we were caught by surprise. Even our worst projections were off. We witnessed very mixed reactions by the different European countries. I take some personal pride that my home country, Germany, is taking a very proac-tive role. Unfortunately, other countries may not contribute as much, and there is still major uncertainty for many refu-gees. UNHCR re-opened some presences in Europe that had long been closed, also to support dealing with this sudden and massive influx.U: Europe was the birthplace of UNHCR, and even now serves as the backbone for addressing refugee issues. However, many in Europe refuse to provide refugee aid. It is a crisis not only of the principles and mechanisms for protecting refugees, but also for compliance with the 1951 Refugee Convention.H: That’s right. But aside from the xenophobic elements, which have unfortunately been emerging, there is the fact that the 1951 Convention does not cover armed conflict. One is a refugee if one is persecuted based on race, religion, national-ity, and so on. It does not explicitly say anything about those fleeing armed conflict. Therefore, if you escape the violence in Syria as bombs are falling on your city, are you a refugee or not? Given the nature of the conflict, UNHCR argues that Syrians fleeing the war in their country are clearly considered as refugees.U: Are you getting sufficient support from traditional and non-traditional donors?H: For some crises, yes. However, there are too many forgot-ten refugee crises, such as those in Sudan, the Democratic Re-public of Congo, and other places. You do not see these issues on the front pages enough, which means donor attention is limited. For example, we are 80% funded in Syria, but in the Great Lakes region of Africa, it is less than 25%. U: I see. So, funding sources can be unpredictable. H: Yes. But we have expanded our outreach efforts, and are also working on streamlining our organization. Overall though, by the end of 2015, it was clear that we could not meet growing global needs alone. So, the first World Humanitarian Summit was convened in May this year to discuss strengthen-ing existing partnerships and creating new ones to tap into new sources of funding, including newly emerged economies such as China and Brazil, as well as the public sector. We must outline for them how contributing to refugee issues is linked to business success. One day there will be peace in Syria, and refugees will remember you if you are there during the crisis with them. U: That’s right. It has to do with brand image and brand val-ues. What about your experiences working with the world’s governments?H: One interesting thing I’ve noticed over the years is that de-veloping and middle-income countries, not developed coun-tries, host about 80% of the world’s refugees. Some countries just build the fences higher, but these countries open their arms and welcome refugees. For example, in Cameroon, 150,000 people crossed the border from the Central African Republic in a very short period of time. The border area is very poor. Almost no infrastructure exists. But Cameroon kept its borders open, and assimilated refugees into the local villages. U: Japan still seems to be in the process of opening up to re-sponding to these issues. H: Although refugees and displaced peoples are certainly not new to the region, many people here may think that the cur-rent crises are very distant. The government of Japan has, for many years, been one of our most generous donors. It has also Responding to a Crisis of Unprecedented Scale Japan’s Contributions to Supporting Refugees27Cooperation

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