South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun (R) meets Ruud Lubbers, United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, at the presidential Blue House
in Seoul June 16, 2003. Lubbers arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a
three-day visit to meet South Korean officials. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won

LJW/TW 

Ruud Lubbers, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, meets
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun at the presidential Blue House in
Seoul June 16, 2003. Lubbers arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a three-day
visit. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won

LJW/RCS 

French President Jacques Chirac smiles as he answers newsmen after his meeting [with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers of the Netherlands] at the Elysee Palace in Paris April 8, 2003. [Chirac said that the United Nations alone should take charge of the reconstruction of Iraq after the U.S.-led war there.] 

French President Jacques Chirac seen as he answers newsmen after his meeting [with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers of the Netherlands] at the Elysee Palace in Paris April 8, 2003. [Chirac said that the United Nations alone should take charge of the reconstruction of Iraq after the U.S.-led war there.] 

French President Jacques Chirac ponders a question from newsmen after his meeting [with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers of the Netherlands] at the Elysee Palace in Paris April 8, 2003. [Chirac said that the United Nations alone should take charge of the reconstruction of Iraq after the U.S.-led war there.] 

French President Jacques Chirac ponders a question from newsmen after his meeting [with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers of the Netherlands] at the Elysee Palace in Paris April 8, 2003. [Chirac said that the United Nations alone should take charge of the reconstruction of Iraq after the U.S.-led war there.] 

French President Jacques Chirac (R) greets U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers of the Netherlands at the Elysee Palace in Paris April 8, 2003. Chirac said that the United Nations alone should take charge of the reconstruction of [Iraq after the U.S.-led war] there. 

French President Jacques Chirac (R) answers newsmen after his meeting with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers of the Netherlands (L) at the Elysee Palace in Paris April 8, 2003. Chirac said that the United Nations alone should take charge of the reconstruction of [Iraq after the U.S.-led war] there. 

French state secretary for foreign affairs Renaud Muselier arrives at
the Elysee Palace to attend talks between President Jacques Chirac and
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers of the Netherlands,
April 8, 2003. Chirac said that the United Nations alone should take
charge of the reconstruction of Iraq after the U.S.-led war there.
REUTERS/Charles Platiau

CP/AA 

French President Jacques Chirac (R) greets U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees Ruud Lubbers of the Netherlands at the Elysee Palace in Paris
April 8, 2003. Chirac said that the United Nations alone should take
charge of the reconstruction of Iraq after the U.S.-led war there.
REUTERS/Charles Platiau

CP/AA 

FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC SEEN WHEN HOLDING NEWS CONFERENCE WITH UN HIGH COMMISSIONER RUUD LUBBERS AT ELYSEE PALACE. French President Jacques Chirac smile as he answers newsmen after his meeting with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers of the Netherlands at the Elysee Palace in Paris April 8, 2003. Chirac said that the United Nations alone should take charge of the reconstruction of Iraq after the U.S.-led war there. REUTERS/Charles Platiau PP05090030 

FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC HOLDS NEWS CONFERENCE WITH UN HIGH
COMMISSIONER RUUD LUBBERS AT ELYSEE PALACE. 

FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC SEEN WHEN HOLDING NEWS CONFERENCE WITH
UN HIGH COMMISSIONER RUUD LUBBERS AT ELYSEE PALACE. 

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers of the Netherlands (C)
leaves the Elysee Palace after talks with French President Jacques
Chirac (L) April 8, 2003. Chirac said that the United Nations alone
should take charge of the reconstruction of Iraq after the U.S.-led war
there. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

CP/AA 

FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC HOLDS NEWS CONFERENCE WITH UN HIGH
COMMISSIONER RUUD LUBBERS AT ELYSEE PALACE. 

FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC HOLDS NEWS CONFERENCE WITH UN HIGH
COMMISSIONER RUUD LUBBERS AT ELYSEE PALACE. 

A convoy of vehicles carrying foodstuffs travel along the Kuwait Iraqi
border near the southern Iraqi town of Safwan April 8, 2003. The Iraq
war has so far produced only a handful of refugees, but it is too early
to rule out a humanitarian crisis like the one sparked by the 1991 Gulf
war, the head of the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers said there were more
Iraqi refugees in the industrialised world than from any other single
country, having already fled the rule of Saddam Hussein before the
U.S.-led war began. The British forces are helping the local people
with humanitarian aid. REUTERS/Russell Boyce

RUS/AA 

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) Ruud Lubbers
gestures during his news conference in Madrid March 31, 2003. Lubbers
said that 25 percent of the $153 million planned to be spent helping
refugees from Iraq will be taken up by personnel costs. REUTERS/Sergio
Perez

SP 

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) Ruud Lubbers
gestures during a news conference in Madrid March 31, 2003. Lubbers
said that 25% of the $153 million planned to be spent helping refugees
from Iraq will be taken up by personnel costs. REUTERS/Sergio Perez

SP/WS 

U.N. high commissioner for refugees Ruud Lubbers smiles during meeting
with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami in Tehran March 5, 2003.
Lubbers, who also visited Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent days was
in Tehran to discuss plans to accommodate an expected influx of
refugees from Iraq in the event of war in Iran's western neighbour.
Iran has set up around 10 refugee camps along its border with Iraq
which U.N. officials say could accommodate up to 200,000 people.
REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl

PJH/GB 

Ruud Lubbers, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) gestures during
a news conference in Islamabad March 4, 2003. The UN refugee agency on
Tuesday urged donors to meet their obligations to fund the return of
Afghan refugees and not allow the Iraq crisis to divert their
attention. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood

MK/WS 

General Abdul Rashid Dostum (L), United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees Ruud Lubbers (2nd L), Afghanistan's Minister of Refugees and
Repatriation Inayatullah Nazeri (2nd R) and northern warlord Atta
Mohammed pose for a photo after their meeting in Mazar-e-Sharif,
Afghanistan, on February 28, 2003. The group, which included numerous
factional leaders from northern Afghanistan such as Dostum and
Mohammad, agreed to improve the infrastructure of the region so that
displaced people can return home. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/Pool

SP/JK/JD 

General Abdul Rashid Dostum (L) and Ustad Atta Mohammad sit together at
a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mazar-i-Sharif on
February 28, 2003. The meeting, which included numerous factional
leaders from northen Afghanistan such as Dostum and Mohammed along with
United Nations High Commisioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers, agreed to
improve the infrastructure of the region so that displaced people can
return home. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/Pool

SP/JK/JD 

General Abdul Rashid Dostum (L) and Ustad Atta Mohammad sit together at
a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mazar-i-Sharif on
February 28, 2003. The meeting, which included numerous factional
leaders from northen Afghanistan such as Dostum and Mohammed along with
United Nations High Commisioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers, agreed to
improve the infrastructure of the region so that displaced people can
return home. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/Pool

SP/JK/JD 

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers (C) visits
Mazar-e-Sharif's famed Blue Mosque after his meeting at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs on February 28, 2003. The meeting, which included
numerous factional leaders from northen Afghanistan, unanimously agreed
to improve the infrastructure of the region so that displaced people
can return home. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/Pool

SP/JK/JD 

Ruud Lubbers, UN High Commissioner for Refugees speaks during a
"Migration in an Interdependent World" session at the World Economic
Forum (WEF), annual meeting in Davos January 26, 2003. The forum
attracted some 2,000 high ranking representatives from the world of
politics and economics. REUTERS/Andreas Meier

RS/PLA/GB 

RUUD LUBBERS SPEAKS DURING MIGRATION IN AN INTERDEPENDENT WORLD SESSION
AT WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM IN DAVOS. 

Young Afghan refugees sit with their family's belongings after arriving
from the Pakistan border at a drop off point in Kabul August 28, 2002.
Ruud Lubbers, the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) said on Wednesday that thousands of ethnic Pashtun
refugees stranded in camps inside Afghanistan are too afraid to return
to their homes in the north of the country which is controlled by rival
groups. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

DW/JS 

A young Afghan refugee sits with his family's belongings after arriving
from the Pakistan border at a drop off point in Kabul August 28, 2002.
Ruud Lubbers, the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) said in Kabul on Wednesday that thousands of ethnic
Pashtun refugees stranded in camps inside Afghanistan are too afraid to
return to their homes in the north of the country which is controlled
by rival groups. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

DW/JS 

A young Afghan refugee from the Pakistan border climbs out of a bus
window upon arrival at a refugee transit center in Pul-i-Charkhi, 20 km
east of Kabul August 28, 2002. Ruud Lubbers, the head of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in Kabul on
Wednesday that thousands of ethnic Pashtun refugees stranded in camps
inside Afghanistan are too afraid to return to their homes in the north
of the country which is controlled by rival groups. REUTERS/Darren
Whiteside

DW/JS 

Afghan President Hamid Karzai (R) meets with U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees Ruud Lubbers at the Golkhaneh Palace in Kabul August 25, 2002.
REUTERS/Kamran Jebreili/Pool

HY/RCS 

Ruud Lubbers (L), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,
talks to Afghan Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullah Abdullah at the start of
a four-day visit, in Kabul August 24, 2002. Afghanistan has faced an
influx of refugees mainly from Pakistan and Iran which has far exceeded
expectations, putting pressure on resources and causing misery for
thousands of people still stranded in camps close to the borders.
REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

DW/RCS 

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers speaks at a news conference in Islamabad April 19, 2002. [Lubbers said on Friday Afghanistan's interim government should have more powers to make better use of the international peacekeepers there to improve security.] 

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers speaks at a
news conference in Islamabad April 19, 2002. Lubbers said on Friday
Afghanistan's interim government should have more powers to make better
use of the international peacekeepers there to improve security.
REUTERS/Mian Khursheed

MK 

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers speaks at a
news conference in Islamabad April 19, 2002. Lubbers said on Friday
Afghanistan's interim government should have more powers for making
better use of the international peacekeepers there to improve security.
REUTERS/Mian Khursheed

MK 

Scores of trucks loaded with Afghan refugee families prepare to return them home from the Nasir Bagh refugee camp near the western Pakistani city of Peshawar April 18, 2002. [Overseeing the process, UNHCR chief Ruud Lubbers said that the seceurity situation was improving in] Afghanistan. 

An elderly Afghan refugee reads instruction on land mines distributed
by the UNHCR offical in Takhtabeig, near the western Pakistani city of
Peshawar, before leaving with other refugees to return home April 18,
2002. Overseeing the process, UNHCR chief Ruud Lubbers said that the
seceurity situation was improving in Afghaistan. REUTERS/Mian
Khursheed

MK/JD 

Afghan refugee families heading ride atop supplies as they leave the
Nasir Bagh refugee camp near the western Pakistani city of Peshawar
April 18, 2002. Overseeing the process, UNHCR chief Ruud Lubbers said
that the seceurity situation was improving in Afghaistan. REUTERS/Mian
Khursheed

MK/JD 

An Afghan refugee family sits in a van before leaving the Takhtabeig
refugee camp near the western Pakistani city of Peshawar to return them
home April 18, 2002. Overseeing the process, UNHCR chief Ruud Lubbers
said that the seceurity situation was improving in Afghaistan.
REUTERS/Mian Khursheed

MK/JD 

Scores of trucks loaded with Afghan refugee families prepare to return
them home from the Nasir Bagh refugee camp near the western Pakistani
city of Peshawar April 18, 2002. Overseeing the process, UNHCR chief
Ruud Lubbers said that the seceurity situation was improving in
Afghaistan. REUTERS/Mian Khursheed

MK/JD 

Afghan refugee women sit with their children in a van before leaving
the Takhtabeig refugee camp near the western Pakistani city of Peshawar
to return to Afghanistan April 18, 2002. Overseeing the process, UNHCR
chief Ruud Lubbers said that the seceurity situation was improving in
Afghaistan. REUTERS/Mian Khursheed

MK/JD 

CAPTION CORRECTION - CORRECTS LOCATION OF PESHAWAR.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers climbs on a
truck to see of Afghan refugees before they left the Nasir Bagh refugee
camp near the western Pakistan city of Peshawar to return to
Afghanistan April 18, 2002. Lubbers said that the seceurity situation
was improving in Afghaistan. REUTERS/Mian Khursheed 

CAPTION CORRECTION - CORRECTS LOCATION OF PESHAWAR.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers talks with
Afghan boys aboard a truck before they left the Nasir Bagh refugee camp
near the western Pakistan city of Peshawar to return to Afghanistan
April 18, 2002. Lubbers said that the seceurity situation was improving
in Afghaistan. REUTERS/Mian Khursheed 

A portrait of Liberian President Charles Taylor standing beside a national flag while waiting to meet the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers 9not pictured) in Monrovia February 15, 2001. [Liberian President Charles Taylor declared a state of emergency on Friday, hours after shooting near the capital suggested an armed rebellion was gaining ground. The government said its forces had driven rebels from Kley junction, just 35 km (22 miles) from Monrovia, the closest they have come to the city since the West African country's latest war erupted in mid-2000.] 

UNITED NATIONS' HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES LUBBERS AT MEETING WITH
RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IVANOV IN MOSCOW.


United Nations' High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers looks on
during negotiations with the Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in
Moscow, January 18, 2002. Lubbers said Moscow should gradually withdraw
its troops and open dialogue with the rebel leadership. REUTERS/Viktor
Korotayev 

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov (L) gestures as he invites United
Nations' High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers for negotiations
prior to their meeting in Moscow, January 18, 2002. Lubbers said Moscow
should gradually withdraw its troops from Chechnya and open dialogue
with the rebel leadership. REUTERS/Viktor Korotayev

AS/AA 

RUSSIAN FEDERATION COUNCIL SPEAKER MIRONOV INVITES UN HIGH COMMISSIONER
FOR REFUGEES LUBBERS FOR TALKS IN MOSCOW.


Russian Federation Council speaker Sergei Mironov (L) invites United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers for talks in
Moscow, January 17, 2002. Russian forces reported their worst day of
losses in Chechnya for weeks on Thursday, and Lubbers said Moscow
should gradually withdraw its troops and open dialogue with the rebel
leadership. REUTERS/Viktor Korotayev REUTERS 

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers makes a
point during a news conference in Geneva December 13, 2001 at the end
of a two-day meeting of some 120 signatory states to the 1951 Geneva
Convention on Refugees. The meeting finished with a strong statement of
support for the 50-year-old charter, which spells out who is entitled
to refugee status and how they should be treated under international
law. REUTERS SUISSE/Jean-Marc Ferre

JMF/MR/ 

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer (LtoR), U.N. Afghanistan envoy
Lakhdar Brahimi and U.N. refugee chief Ruud Lubbers stand together
before the Afghanistan Support Group conference in Berlin December 5,
2001. Major Western aid donors began a two-day conference in Berlin on
Wednesday to pump emergency relief into Afghanistan following an accord
struck in Bonn earlier in the day to form a new government for the
shattered country. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

FAB/JOH 

An Afghan refugee collects cooking oil at the Shamshatu camp near
Peshawar November 7, 2001. The head of the United Nations refugee
agency, Ruud Lubber, on Sunday urged Pakistan to accept those Afghans
fleeing U.S. air strikes against the ruling Taliban militia.
REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski

PK/RCS 

Four-year-old Hamida Afghan waits for her parents near the food
distribution center at the Shamshatu refugee camp near Peshawar
November 7, 2001. The head of the United Nations refugee agency, Ruud
Lubber, on Sunday urged Pakistan to accept those Afghans fleeing U.S.
air strikes against the ruling Taliban militia. REUTERS/Pawel
Kopczynski

PK/RCS 

An Afghan family sits in their tent while talking to a Pakistani
policeman at the Shamshatu refugee camp near Peshawar November 7, 2001.
The head of the United Nations refugee agency, Ruud Lubber, on Sunday
urged Pakistan to accept those Afghans fleeing U.S. air strikes against
the ruling Taliban militia. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski

PK/RCS 

An Afghan boy sits near the food distribution center at the Shamshatu
refugee camp near Peshawar November 7, 2001. The head of the United
Nations refugee agency, Ruud Lubber, on Sunday urged Pakistan to accept
those Afghans fleeing U.S. air strikes against the ruling Taliban
militia. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski

PK/RCS 

An Afghan girl rests in a wheelbarrow at the Shamshatu refugee camp
near Peshawar November 7, 2001. The head of the United Nations refugee
agency, Ruud Lubber, on Sunday urged Pakistan to accept those Afghans
fleeing U.S. air strikes against the ruling Taliban militia.
REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski

PK/RCS 

An Afghan woman begs while holding her baby at a street in Peshawar, October 30, 2001.[ U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers has urged Pakistan to open its borders to Afghans fleeing the American and its allies bombing on Afghanistan.] 

United Nations refugee chief Ruud Lubbers (R) talks to the press following his meeting with Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef (C) and translator Ahmed Ratib (L) at the ambassador's residence in Islamabad late October 30, 2001. [Lubbers met the Taliban Ambassador to seek assurances for the safety of his staff in Afghanistan and to halt Taliban members from looting UN offices and supplies in Afghanistan. ] 

An Afghan woman begs while holding her baby at a street in Peshawar,
October 30, 2001. U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers has
urged Pakistan to open its borders to Afghans fleeing the American and
its allies bombing on Afghanistan. REUTERS/Aziz Haidari

AH 

United Nations refugee chief Ruud Lubbers talks to the press in
Islamabad October 30, 2001. Lubbers urged Pakistan's President Pervez
Musharraf on Tuesday to open Pakistan's borders to Afghans fleeing the
bombing. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski

PK/WS 

United Nations refugee chief Ruud Lubbers (R) talks to the press
following his meeting with Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul
Salam Zaeef (C) and translator Ahmed Ratib (L) at the ambassador's
residence in Islamabad late October 30, 2001. Lubbers met the Taliban
Ambassador to seek assurances for the safety of his staff in
Afghanistan and to halt Taliban members from looting UN offices and
supplies in Afghanistan. REUTERS/Jason Reed

JIR/CRB 

United Nations refugee chief Ruud Lubbers (R) is shown the way out of a
meeting by Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef (C)
and translator Ahmed Ratib (L), after their meeting at the ambassador's
residence in Islamabad late October 30, 2001. Lubbers met the Taliban
Ambassador to seek assurances for the safety of his staff in
Afghanistan and to halt Taliban members from looting UN offices and
supplies in Afghanistan. REUTERS/Jason Reed

JIR/CRB