E/CN.4/1503 page 51
While this comment is essentially relevant to the political role of the Secretary-General in terms of peace-keeping, the basic concept of an appropriate United Nations presence can
be extended to humanitarian emergencies as distinct from situa-
tions of armed conflict. In fact, in elaborating further on the idea of United Nations presence, the Secretary-General expressed
the view:
"A relatively small United Nations presence can have a calming effect on a violent situation out of all proportion to its numbers, armaments or military capacity. I fully recognize the political and other complexities involved. Clearly the authority of the Security Council must be respected, and the principle of national sovereignty strictly observed. On this basis,
I believe however, that Member States might consider the
the possibilities of extending in some form the Organization's very considerable experience of peace-keeping into humanitarian emergencies where conditions call urgently for an element of security."
111. It is suggested that further thought be given to the idea
of introducing into the framework of international action in
situations of mass exodus, the concept of
the concept of a "corps of humani-
tarian observers".
112. It
is recalled, in this connection, that already in 1971,
when the mass exodus of millions of Bengalis occurred, the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees promoted the idea
of stationing small teams of humanitarian observers on both
sides of the border of the then East Pakistan. The subsequent
proposal by the Secretary-General in this regard was not accepted
by the Government of India so that the full benefits of an
international presence of this kind could be assessed. A small
team of humanitarian observers was, however, placed in East
Pakistan.