Update on Population, Refugees and Migration

November 5, 1997

Moderator: Kathleen Newland, Senior Associate, International Migration Policy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Panelist: Phyllis Oakley, Outgoing Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and MigratioN

Kathleen Newland welcomed Ms. Oakley to the Carnegie Endowment where Ms. Oakley has been a regular and valued contributor to the International Migration Policy Program. Ms. Oakley is leaving her post as Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) to become Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research.

Phyllis Oakley began by discussing the increasing salience of humanitarian affairs on the foreign policy agenda. She asserted that humanitarian affairs and democratization are clearly moving to the forefront of the foreign policy agenda as national interests are being redefined from traditional security concerns to global issues such as trade and the environment. Moreover, Ms. Oakley detected growing recognition by governments of the economic damage large population growth rates can cause. According to Ms. Oakley, the bottom line for stabilizing growth is no secret: couples want fewer children and need better access to birth control. Unfortunately, laments Ms. Oakley, such common sense has not been translated into effective policy action because the abortion debate has dominated discourse in the American political system and obscured the real debate about the pressing needs of women around the world.

In Ms. Oakley's opinion, the United States has improved its working relationship with international organizations. Ms. Oakley noted that the United States and the international community have learned how to deliver relief and assistance in refugee settings very effectively. There has been much less mastery of prevention or of security issues in this context. As a consequence, governments are increasingly determined to avoid admitting large numbers of refugees and are impatient to return those who do enter. She felt the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was unfairly criticized for its role in Rwanda and then-Zaire. When the UNHCR entered Zaire, the former faced an untenable situation because those who fled from Rwanda were both victims and aggressors: UN member states were unwilling to provide the resources to separate the two groups. Ms. Oakley also sees the international community's general unwillingness to act in Rwanda and Zaire as an incentive for states to deny admission to refugees. After the upheaval in Rwanda and Zaire, states will not want to admit refugees for fear of inciting such upheaval. Thailand, for example, which has a strong record of admitting refugees, has wavered about opening its borders to new waves of Cambodian refugees. Certain West African states that had been accepting refugees one year ago are now refusing to let refugee boats land. It appears that this is the current trend: states see their national interests better served by closing doors to refugees.

Sge said state governments and international organizations can help protect refugees by ending programs that have outlived their usefulness. The ROVR resettlement program in Southeast Asia is a good example. Also, the international community should be more active in the political and security spheres. More "glorified police work" by the world community would be beneficial. Furthermore, resettlement must remain a viable option to deal with certain refugee situations.

When she began her tenure at PRM, she was confident she could sit down and redefine the eligibility criteria under which refugees could resettle in the United States. Today, however, not all refugees are fleeing persecution but rather anarchy or even retribution, criteria that are exceptionally difficult to conceptualize. Unless the current criteria change, refugee admissions are likely to decrease.

Ms. Oakley asserted that migration has emerged as an increasingly important bilateral and regional issue. Nevertheless, she is astounded by the lack of attention given to the lessons of the Haitian and Cuban crises in the regional context where migration and asylum streams are often difficult to disentangle.

To Contact the Panelist:

Phyllis Oakley
Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research
Department of State
Bureau of Intelligence and Research
Room 6531
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Telephone: 202-647-9177
FAX: 202-736-4688

Click here to read more about the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration