Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), established Jan., 1951, by the General Assembly. It superseded the International Refugee Organization. It seeks permanent solutions to refugee problems, offers international protection to refugees, coordinates the activities of voluntary agencies, and assists the most needy refugee groups. It was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1954 and 1981. In the late 1950s the office of UNHCR aided refugees from Hungary, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, and Chinese refugees in Hong Kong. Since the 1960s most of its economic assistance has gone to refugees created by tribal and political conflicts and civil wars. In the 1980s and 90s such conflicts have taken it to the Horn of Africa, Central America, Pakistan, Southeast Asia, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and the former Yugoslavia.

Bibliography: See L. Holborn, Refugees, a Problem for Our Time: The Work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 1950-1970 (1974).

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Office of the (UNHCR) A United Nations body established in 1951 to replace the International Refugee Organization. The UNHCR has two primary functions: to extend international protection to refugees under the terms of the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and, specifically, to ensure refugees obtain political asylum and are not forcibly returned to a territory where they fear persecution. The UNHCR also seeks to provide refugees with emergency relief, such as food, shelter, and medical assistance, and, in the long term, to assist in their voluntary repatriation or resettlement and integration into a new community.