TNAG-1529-FCO40-2093-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-general-1986 — Page 141

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The humanitarian assistance we provide restores at least partially

the human dignity of the victims and contributes to the respect for

certain human rights. Thus, we feel it is an indirect contribution

Humanitarian assistance however, responds only to the

to peace.

victims' basic needs and cannot therefore bring durable solutions.

MEN. Ark imm

The question I would like to put to you today is: Which contribution.

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to a peaceful settlement could a humanitarian organisation like ICRC

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make?

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AIAN

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Let me start by recalling a historic event which gives a symbolic

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answer to this question.

19 mo. 4 202

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You may remember that the first Noble

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!!.

W

Prize for Peace given in 1901 was shared by two men: Henri Dunant

and Frederic Passy. Less known is that both men had reacted to

the problem of war for the first time in 1859 (when France and

Austria foug over Lombardy). Dunant went to the battlefield of

Solferino to assist war-wounded of both parties in conflict, while

Frederic Passy had publicly protested against the war. One became

the founder of the Red Cross movement, the aim of which is to limit

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the horrors of war, the oth one a key figure of the European

pacifism which was calling ardently for a general abolition of war.

This example shows us the difference in the way to consider war

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with the Red Cross opting for a somewhat more realistic approach

in the sense that it copes with the effects.

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The Red Cross was, from its very beginning, an action and a

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concept: the gesture of taking care of war-wounded and the

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concept of protection of victims. Both are based on the ideals

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of humanity, neutrality and impartiality which all major

civilisations share.

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