Page 43 - Bulletin, Vol.83 No.1, April 2024

INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT MULLER, FORMER

UNHCR OFFICIAL

By Odette FOUDRAL and Michelene GALLEMAND

I had the privilege of meeting
Robert Muller on many occasions. I
was always impressed by his
dynamism and quick wit, not forgetting
of course his phenomenal memory. That
is why I wanted to take advantage of his
memory, as it can shed light on certain
past events. We must not forget that at
school the history syllabus stops at the
1914-1918 World War. How then can we
build the future if we are not aware of the
past?

1. When and how did you start working for the United Nations?

I have worked for the UNHCR since 1962. The UNHCR (United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees) was created by the UN General Assembly in 1950, in the
aftermath of the Second World War, to help the millions of people who had lost their
homes. The UN, of course, provides some support to the UNHCR, but the UNHCR has
its own budget and raises the funds it needs itself. Every year, at the Executive
Committee meeting, the 54 member countries and other countries that have dealings
with the UNHCR meet and set the direction for the work of UNHCR.

2. Tell us about your work and your career.

I studied law in France.

In 1953, at the end of my studies at the University of Grenoble at a farewell dinner, one
of the professors, knowing that I spoke German, offered me a job at CIMADE, a French
non-governmental organisation helping refugees.
As part of a Franco-German reconciliation movement, the CIMADE decided to run,
jointly with a West German organisation, a reception centre in West Berlin for refugees
from Eastern Europe (On 17 June 1953, there was an uprising in East Berlin, which was

AAFI-AFICS BULLETIN, Vol. 83 No.1, 2024-04 42

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