| Date | November 2017 | Marks available | 4 | Reference code | 17N.1.BP.TZ0.18 |
| Level | Both SL and HL | Paper | Paper 1 - first exams 2017 | Time zone | TZ0 |
| Command term | Analyse | Question number | 18 | Adapted from | N/A |
Question
Source S
Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, outlines her findings in a speech to the United Nations Security Council in New York (28 June 1996).
New comprehensive initiatives are urgently needed to break the deadlock in the repatriation of 1.7 million Rwandan refugees. Extremist elements among the refugees in Zaire are responsible for increasing armed incursions into Rwanda and have reportedly also been involved in the massacres in the Masisi region, thus creating regional tension. A climate of intimidation in the camps and fear of arrest or retribution [revenge] in Rwanda remain the two major obstacles to large scale repatriation.
Achieving lasting repatriation and contributing to reconciliation remains our objective… Let me say a few words about the relocation of camps. We believe that it would improve regional and refugee security … When combined with the separation of the former army and leadership, relocation would also help break their control of the refugees. It might then enable and induce many … refugees to repatriate … Separation would make it easier to exclude from international protection those guilty of genocide, in accordance with the OAU [Organisation of African Unity] Refugee Convention. This has thus far been practically impossible.
Let me add that I am worried about the assertion by some that the forced return through various means of Rwandan refugees from Zaire is the only “solution”. There are still human rights concerns in Rwanda. I am also convinced that in that case large numbers of refugees would spread out and destabilize other regions of Zaire, as happened in Masisi. On the other hand, a sudden mass return to Rwanda could have serious humanitarian and security implications.
[Source: Remarks by Mrs. Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,
to the United Nations Security Council, New York, 28 June 1996]
With reference to its origin, purpose and content, analyse the value and limitations of Source S for an historian studying the Rwandan refugee crisis.
Markscheme
Value:
• As UN High Commissioner for refugees Ogata may be well informed about the refugee crisis.
• It is an official statement and it would give an insight into what the UN understood about the situation and what the world community was told at the time.
• The content of the speech gives specific examples of issues the UNHCR has found and/or the language is politically “neutral”.
Limitations:
• As UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ogata may want to move responsibility for the refugee crisis and related problems away from the United Nations and its agencies.
• Because the crisis was still unfolding, Ogata could not fully assess the impact of the refugee crisis, both on Rwanda and the local region.
• The purpose is to gain support for new initiatives and therefore may only discuss elements of the crisis that can be addressed by UN intervention.
The focus of the question is on the value and limitations of the question. If only value or limitations are discussed, award a maximum of [2]. Origins, purpose and content should be used as supporting evidence to make relevant comments on the values and limitations. For [4] there must be at least one reference to each of them in either the values or the limitations.
