Page 44 - Bulletin, Vol.83 No.1, April 2024

very violently repressed, leading to a flood of departures until the construction of the
wall in 1961).

I spent 18 months in Berlin in this centre where the daily contact with the refugees was
very enriching. The CIMADE offered me the post of head of activities for refugees at his
head office in Paris.

In March 1957, still with the CIMADE, I became responsible for a camp for Hungarian
teenage refugees in the Paris region. They had entered Yugoslavia, a country that
accepted these refugees on condition that they could emigrate to other countries.
France agreed to take in 80 teenagers, among others. Managing this camp for a year
was particularly interesting.

I continued to work at CIMADE and at the beginning of 1962, the Director of
Programmes at the UNHCR asked me to join the organisation. That was my entry into
the UNHCR. I guess I was predestined to work for refugees.

My first job, which lasted 4 years, was to look after the programmes for Germany and
Austria and, in particular, the closure of the camps for victims of the Second World War,
of which there were still many in these countries.

In 1966 I went to Dakar in Senegal, where I opened the UNHCR office to help the
Senegalese government deal with the arrival of refugees from Guinea-Bissau in
Casamance. This UNHCR office was soon called upon to provide assistance to West
African countries faced with several population movements.

At the end of 1969, I went to Libreville in Gabon to head the plan to repatriate
thousands of Biafran children who had taken refuge in Gabon. They had been
evacuated from this province of Nigeria, which was fighting for its independence.

In 1970, I became Head of the Resettlement Section and subsequently Head of the
European Section for 2-3 years at the Geneva headquarters.

In 1975, I was appointed head of the UNHCR office in Buenos Aires.

I then spent a year in Cairo and Geneva. In 1980, I went to Sudan, then the largest
country in Africa, where I was responsible for 500,000 refugees from neighbouring
countries. I was there for 3 years.

I ended my career at headquarters as Director of the Americas for five years and in
recent months signed the tripartite agreement between Guatemala, Mexico and the
UNHCR for the repatriation to Guatemala of Guatemalan refugees in Mexico.

After having worked closely with MSF for 20 years, it was natural to work with MSF
(Médecins sans Frontières) when I retired in 1988.

3. Which position has given you the most satisfaction during your work for the
United Nations (during your career)?

Certainly my job in Argentina, because I had the opportunity to solve some particularly
difficult problems.

AAFI-AFICS BULLETIN, Vol. 83 No.1, 2024-04 43

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