Tag: UNHCR

In Memoriam: Lionel Rosenblatt, Refugee Champion

April 22, 2026

Lionel Alexander Rosenblatt, born December 10, 1943; died April 11, 2026.

Lionel Rosenblatt was the most consistent, clear, sane voice on behalf of refugees and war victims in Washington, DC, SE Asia, Switzerland and across the humanitarian community during his many years building up the stature of Refugees International (RI), the NGO he led as Executive Director.  During those years he was the most accessible, humane and down to earth of Washington leaders, always putting others at ease while steering conversations with a strong moral compass.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Ann Grosvenor Rosenblatt, whom he met in Vietnam and saved from a rhinoceros in Africa; his sister Sarah; and the generations of humanitarian workers he taught, cajoled, inspired, and sent off to places that needed them.

Born in New Rochelle, New York, and educated at Harvard College and Stanford Law School, he entered the U.S. Foreign Service in 1966 beginning a career that would span the fall of Saigon, the Indochinese refugee crisis, the wars in the Balkans, the Rwandan genocide, and crises in Somalia, Chechnya, and the Congo.

He is perhaps best remembered by many for an act of principled insubordination: in April 1975, he and colleague Craig Johnstone defied State Department orders and flew to Saigon on personal leave, arranging the evacuation of 400 greatly at-risk Vietnamese before the city fell as the war came to an end.  Michael Eiland, who succeeded him in Bangkok, says “It was truly a bold and remarkable undertaking and illustrated the depth of Lionel’s moral courage.”  Soon thereafter, Lionel was called before Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in Washington, DC to answer – he thought – for his clear violation of State Department instructions.  He was instead complimented by Kissinger who praised him for doing exactly the right thing.

Selected quotes by Lionel himself:

  • “The treatment of refugees is a measure of whether countries live up to their stated principles.”
  • “It was always a mystery to me why they [the Hmong] were good enough to fight for us but not good enough to consider for resettlement.”. “They were willing to risk everything for us. We should have been willing to do more for them.”
  • “Humanitarian relief cannot substitute for political will. Feeding people under siege while allowing the siege to continue is not a policy—it is an abdication.” (about the crisis in Bosnia and the failure to act).
  • “Governments respond when they are pressed to respond. If they are not pressed, they will do as little as possible.”
  • “The lesson of Rwanda [after the genocide] is not that we did not know; it is that we did not act on what we knew.”
  • “If you go to the field and you see what is happening, you cannot come back and pretend that incremental steps are enough.” And “Working on the ground, listening to the customers, the refugees, and finding out how to help them…”
  • “The most vulnerable are those who have not crossed a border—because they have no legal status and no one assigned to protect them.”
  • “Early action saves both lives and resources; delay multiplies both the human and financial cost.” (From Humanitarian Emergencies: Ten Steps to Save Lives and Resources, 1995)
  • “We have one of the worst refugee crises of modern times — we have hundreds of thousands of people [from Rwanda in DR Congo] — one need not quibble over numbers, but all of us saw the camps — we know there are hundreds of thousands of people formerly supported by all of us as wards of the international community who’ve gone missing and are without food or water now for three weeks from this sector. … [we] must decide to go ahead more aggressively or we’ll really have written off substantial numbers of people to certain death.”
  • “We spend far more responding to crises than we would have spent preventing them.”
  • “You’ve got to be sure that you don’t get killed in the semifinals.”
  • “Our job is not simply to report what we see, but to force those who can act to do so.”
  • “Our enemies were not the Viet Cong… our enemies were the Koreans and the Americans and the South Vietnamese who didn’t like what we’d done.”
  • “Everybody [in the US Government] reported [only] success up the chain of command… so it was very hard for the senior Americans [officials] to know what was really happening.”
  • ”Many experts agree that a force of just 5,000 peacemakers could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives in Rwanda in 1994.”
  • “While the international community is focused on Bosnia, little attention is paid to Burundi, a country that is close to exploding into a frenzy of killing that would dwarf the carnage of the Balkans. The United States should supply logistical and financial backing and solicit troops from other countries, including African nations, such as Botswana and Zimbabwe. The mission: to protect the moderate central government and the operations of foreign relief organizations.”
  • “When the United States leads, others follow; when it hesitates, others find reasons to hesitate as well.”
  • “Because of the funding shortfall, in beleaguered Bosnia meager rations are now being cut by half. In Croatia, the UNHCR has been forced to cut back drastically on support for the 600,000 Bosnian refugees there. … strong U.S. leadership is required to sustain a relief effort that must quickly resume feeding [to avert] the terrible precedent of permitting the remainder of Bosnia to be starved into submission.”
  • “The difference between acting now and acting later is measured in lives.”
  • “My life has always been dictated by strange, unpredictable circumstances.”
  • “You become a crusader for the underdog. And that’s much more satisfying than going to diplomatic functions and having high titles.”
  • “I realized that if I ever have to go on the run again, the quickest way to change my appearance is to have a mustache to shave off.”

Lionel was famous for hard-hitting one-page fax sheets specifying 5-to-10-point plans for immediate action to solve emerging problems.

This box below is from the 1996 Annual Report of Refugees International:

His leadership was moral alertness:  refusal to let distance, numbers, or diplomatic protocol numb the conscience.  He was part of a generation that built the modern humanitarian system, but his particular gift was persistence without cynicism.

Selected quotes by others about Lionel:

“Lionel was a lion hearted and compassionate advocate for refugees and saved so many lives because of his commitment.”  – Patricia Frye Walker

“He was a walking soundbite, able to eloquently and persuasively articulate why aiding others was beyond a moral imperative but of importance for national security at any time.   He had to have one of the world’s best rolodexes. There was almost no one in the humanitarian space he could not get on the phone.  I recall fondly seeing firsthand Lionel’s willingness to forcefully rattle cages and go out on a limb for the sake of those in need. I was in the room at the Orchid Hotel in Bukavu when he was being interviewed by the Washington Post about the ongoing civil war in what became the DRC. During the interview he called for the U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda to be recalled to Washington and read-in on the current US position on the war. The reporter asked Lionel if he really wanted to go on record for saying this. Lionel’s response, “‘You can !@$%ing print it.’  It made the article.”    – Kirkpatrick Day

“He was a giant.”   – Ellen Frost

“Lionel was a powerhouse: loud, bold, principled and fearless. He fought tirelessly for refugees and their human rights. I began my career in the humanitarian sector at Refugees International and Lionel modeled purpose and ferocity in a way that emboldened me to never shy away, to always speak up, to ask the tough questions and be relentless in the pursuit of solutions. So many of us became better advocates and allies because we had the chance to learn from him, to argue with, be challenged and encouraged by him.”  – Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams, former RI field analyst

“He always encouraged me to be bold, go for broke, do whatever our tiny RI team could do to give refugees voice and marshal the support they needed.” – Susan Goodwillie, who preceded Lionel as head of Refugees International

    “Even then he was investing in the next generation of advocates imploring a multilateral organization in which he strongly believed but pushed daily to hold up the 1951 convention and the foundation of international refugee protection.”   – Kelly Clements, Deputy High Commissioner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

“Lionel Rosenblatt, who led the refugee section [in Cambodia] was incredible, a real dynamo on this disaster. He would call me from a remote area to report that one refugee was being mistreated… He had that unique ability to care as much for one as for a thousand.”  – Ambassador Morton Abramowitz

“At that time, Lionel had very little experience in Laos and almost none with Hmong at the beginning, before ‘75, because his experience was in Vietnam. But he became extremely knowledgeable and very involved, and the key player in all this was Lionel. He was the refugee coordinator, so—and very articulate.  The refugees could not have had a better advocate for them. And this was within the State Department, so it made a big difference.“  – Dennis Grace, RI field advocate

“The enumeration of the sheer volume of his accomplishments is almost overwhelming. It is impossible to convey in words, though, his energy, passion, and selfless dedication to the refugee cause.”   – Michael Eiland, who suceeded Lionel in Bangkok

“Lionel could figure out how to get around problems.  When I needed to figure out how to get rid of landmines in my camp, he got me a landmine detector.  He found people.  He had a huge contact list; he knew people, he raised money for Refugees International.  It had almost been falling apart; he really rescued it.  He spoke straight forward and testified often to Congress. This small group made big changes in the international system.  People trusted him…. I went out to his Llama farm in West Virginia before he took the job at RI.”  – Dr. James Cobey

“Lionel Rosenblatt was a relentless advocate for refugees. He never gave up. An. example. He became a supporter of Hmong refugees who had been supporters of the US during he Vietnam conflict. Being mountain people , a resettlement site in the mountain west would be ideal. That site turned out to be the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana just south of Missoula, my home town.  As the Hmong were mountain people, the Bitterroots were a perfect resettlement site for them. Still, they needed livelihood help. Next thing I knew, Lionel had somehow gotten some llamas and had them sent to Missoula!”  – Don Krumm, former refugee officer at Dept of State

“I think without Lionel Rosenblatt we wouldn’t be here” – Lee Pao Xiong, Hmong leader

“Lionel had three key components of an effective humanitarian advocate — passion, smarts, and heart — and he offers all of us a model of a life well-lived.” – U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Eric Schwartz

“He did a great job leading meetings at the Burundi Policy Forum in the mid to late 1990’s.” – Margaret Zeigler

“Whenever he appeared, it was to encourage people towards engagement, participation, solutions. The message was always clear: we can and must do better.  Lionel Rosenblatt was one of the handful of giants that influenced my career. Just the right suggestion or correction at just the right time, typically without preamble, steered me to better helping others. He wasn’t great at following the status quo and, yeah, I loved that”.  – Bill Hyde, IOM Emergency coordinator

“He was so insightful and so relentless. He was a magnificent person to witness and work with. He was always looking for evidence of wrongdoing by whoever cast the characters in that. He was in there all the time holding up a vision of themselves to themselves and fighting for refugee rights.”  – Don Krumm

“He seemed like a bulldog, a pit bull even, pressing one administration after another to do the right thing on humanitarian issues.”  – John Prendergast

“Rosenblatt displayed special empathy for ethnic minorities whose fates were largely regarded as collateral damage.  These included the Hmong hill-tribe minority in Laos, who served as proxy soldiers for the U.S. in its “Secret War” to support a pro-Western government against the communist Pathet Lao.  – Washington Post

“Lionel’s influence extended well beyond the organization itself. His relationships and advocacy helped connect policymakers to the realities on the ground in conflict zones. Notably, his role in bringing Richard Holbrooke into besieged Sarajevo became part of a chain of events that would later influence U.S. engagement in Bosnia and the eventual Dayton Peace Accords – a powerful example of how principled action can reverberate at the highest levels of policy.” – Refugees International

“His working style as head of Refugees International was to visit areas where conflict was creating refugees and publicize the plight of these individuals not only in Southeast Asia, but the former Yugoslavia, Russia, and Africa, often to the irritation of authorities in the host country and in the United States. His advocacy more than once produced news coverage of events that otherwise might have been overlooked. “Harassing” governments was the term Dick Holbrooke used in his book To End A War about Rosenblatt’s style.”       – Legacy.com

 

Other readings:  Numerous other obituaries provide a chronological litany of his career postings and involvement in different crises.

 https://apnews.com/article/lionel-rosenblatt-obituary-vietnam-war-refugees-hmong-cambodia-5f6056bf5b75173897fc2fca7567d156

 https://www.jstor.org/stable/40209567

 Humanitarian Emergencies: Ten Steps to Save Lives and Resources” (1995)

In Memoriam: Arthur Eugene ‘Gene’ Dewey, A Life of Service and Compassion

 Gene Dewey, who passed away on February 22nd, was one of the great humanitarian leaders of his generation, inspiring many people and managing to move food and relief supplies to needed areas over the course of several decades. He was also an institution builder, seeing the need for new organizations to lead and to train leaders.

His career spanned many of the global emergencies of the last 40 years, from Biafra in the 1960s to Sudan in the 1980s, to Rwanda in the 1990s, to Afghanistan in the 2000s.  While he attained senior levels in the UN and US Government, he never lost the common touch. He was affable and supportive of his colleagues and never stood on ceremony.

Throughout his distinguished career, Ambassador Dewey embodied an unwavering belief in the power of multilateral cooperation to address the world’s most pressing humanitarian crises. His conviction that international challenges required international solutions shaped his approach to diplomacy and refugee protection for more than four decades.

He is survived by his wife Priscilla, his daughter Elizabeth Parce Ainsworth, son in-law Anthony Ainsworth, and grand-daughter, Charlotte.

Arthur Eugene Dewey went by the name of “Gene.”  Testimonials contributed from his friends and colleagues for this obituary appear in the following

I.  Gene’s Life and Mission

Born on February 18, 1933, in Pennsylvania, Gene grew up in a ministerial family that taught him values of service and compassion, which would define his life’s work.  Gene graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1956 and began a distinguished 25-year military career. After earning a Master of Science in Engineering from Princeton University in 1961, Gene deployed to Southeast Asia for two combat tours.  For his leadership during a multinational prisoner rescue operation in Cambodia, he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and six additional air medals.

Philip Sargisson (UNHCR):  “Gene was a highly principled yet particularly warm human being. We worked together, traveled together and remained close friends.“

His advocacy for streamlined international aid structures and enhanced civil-military cooperation in humanitarian response reflected his belief that effective assistance required both strategic coordination and operational flexibility.  His vision influenced how the aid agencies respond to displacement crises today.

Betsy Lippman (State Dept):  “Gene Dewey was the ultimate humanitarian and a gentleman in the old style.  One of a kind.  He will be truly missed.”

II. Gene’s Leadership in Fighting Global Hunger

Gene fought malnutrition and hunger in numerous capacities, starting as a White House Fellow in 1968 when he was posted to USAID to coordinate civilian food aid for the Biafra famine (also known as the Nigerian Civil War), which was the first real-time, big night-time news crisis in Africa.

Susan Martin (Georgetown):  “I met Gene in 1981 when he had retired from the military and began working on refugee issues in the State Department.  He was largely responsible for shifting U.S. policy toward finding solutions for the famine in Ethiopia.”

Working at the U.S. Department of State Gene supported the response to the devastating Ethiopian famine of 1984-1985.  He played a pivotal role in convincing the UN Secretary-General to establish the UN Organization for Emergency Operations in Africa that responded to the regional famines across the Horn of Africa including the Ethiopia famine.

Margaret McKelvey (State Dept):  “I cannot count the number of times he [Gene] cited the UN Office of Emergency Operations in Africa work on famine across the continent in the mid 1980s as the UN’s finest hour.”

Angela Berry (UNHCR Nutritionist) met Gene in 1985:  “At that time, I had met many dignitaries. I assumed my list would disappear into some distant bureaucracy. To my astonishment, within weeks everything I had requested began to arrive – tents, blankets, therapeutic food, emergency kits – pouring in with a speed and coordination I had never seen. I knew it was Gene. … Knowing Gene was there, steadfast in his dedication, unwavering in his humanity, was a deep comfort to me and to so many others. Over the decades we continued to exchange messages, sharing concerns about neglected crises and places in need of attention. He always seemed like someone who would be with us forever.”

In 1993, Gene set up and led the Congressional Hunger Center (CHC), which was authorized by Congress in the wake of the dissolution of the House Select Committee on Hunger.  Working closely with Congressional representatives, Gene built up the CHC.    Drawing on his experience with the White House Fellows program, Gene led the CHC to provide two-year fellowships to dozens of young leaders to train fight hunger, working with UN agencies and NGOs.

Margaret Zeigler (CHC):  “He inspired a generation of young leaders who now work to make the world a better place – in the UN system, in the US government, private sector and in the humanitarian non-governmental organizations here and around the world. Gene always lifted up young leaders and especially believed in women, youth and those less advantaged. His favorite words were “we” and “us”.”

Ambassador and former Congressman, Tony Hall chaired the Committee on Hunger from Congress.  He remembers:  “Gene Dewey was one of the most decent and honorable man I’ve ever met.  He was always caring and working to help people who were hurting.”

In 1989 Gene was tapped to lead USAID’s new, unprecedented aid to the former Soviet states when the Soviet Union unraveled and brand, new countries were in need.  He pioneered new ways of providing aid to unconventional populations in Central Asia.  His partner in this effort, Don Krumm, remembers:  “He was a big-minded guy, energetic, and encouraging.  He was always there with positive bravo.  He liked audacity.  Gene kept the supply lines going in.  It was a chance, if we succeeded, to be on top of a transition to democracy.”

Margaret Zeigler explains “CHC still exists today, and is a private, bi-partisan center that keeps a focus in Congress on domestic and international hunger and humanitarian issues and galvanizes action.  It is where our teams established the Bill Emerson Hunger Fellowships and the Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellowships, programs that raise up the next generation of leaders working to end hunger in the United States and around the world.”

 III.  Gene’s Leadership in Refugee Assistance and Protection

While outside of government, during the Rwandan Refugee Crisis in 1995, Gene Dewey arranged, developed a five-point plan shared with the National Security Council and the U.S. President that helped facilitate the deployment of military assets to provide water supply in Goma and the refugee camps around Goma.

Later, as Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration from 2002 to 2005, Dewey oversaw the return of over four million Afghan refugees following the fall of the Taliban.  By mid-2002, approximately 1.6 million refugees had returned home, supported by U.S.-funded UNHCR programs providing transport, shelter, and reintegration assistance.  Dewey championed an innovative Program Secretariat Structure in Afghanistan that paired UN agencies with Afghan government ministries, creating accountability mechanisms while building local capacity. He also initiated the Afghan Conservation Corps, modeled on the U.S. Civilian Conservation Corps, to employ returnees in environmental and infrastructure projects.

      Susan Martin (Georgetown University):   “My most vivid memories of Gene were working with him when he was Deputy UN High Commissioner for Refugees. UNHCR had been pressured by some of its member states to do a better job in protecting the rights of refugee women and children. Some of the UNHCR staff saw the problems faced by women and girls to be social issues, not human rights issues. When I talked with Gene about it, he immediately brought a group of staff members together and let them know that UNHCR had an obligation to protect all refugees and they should cooperate with the efforts underway to address the many problems facing women and children. I will always be thankful for Gene’s support.”

At the Department of State, Gene encouraged Don Krumm  to pioneer early warning of refugee flows, such as in the Fergana Valley in Central Asia.  Don  (State) remembers:  “Gene was always encouraging new thinking.  He was one for pushing the envelope.   He and I got along so well because I would recommend going to the site of the problem, and he trusted me to do that.”

 Anne Richard (State}:  “When he became head of the refugee bureau at the State Department, the humanitarian community expressed huge relief….  He made his mark early on when his issued a fact-based report that defended UNFPA’s role with regard to China’s coercive one child policy. …    His leadership on refugee matters was respected throughout Washington, DC… While a friendly and avuncular figure, he never hesitated to critique humanitarian policies if he thought they were off-track.”

Gene negotiated the reopening of Vietnam’s Orderly Departure Program in 2004, allowing thousands of refugees to resettle safely.  He also advocated for Bhutanese refugees in Nepal and North Korean refugees in China, pressing for their recognition and protection under international law.

Globally, he advocated for “un-warehousing refugees” i.e., out of long-term artificial camps so they could actively participate in finding their own solutions.

Kelly Clements {UNHCR):  “He was known then as a man of conviction and determination to make the lives of others better with Africa a focus during his time at State Department and serving at UNHCR during the 1980’s pivotal adoption of the Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indochinese Refugees and the CIREFCA process which provided a humanitarian framework to implement Cartagena protection principles and solutions in Central America. “

United Nations’ Leadership

Gene’s commitment to multilateralism and “burden sharing” among donors found its fullest expression during his tenure as UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees from 1986 to 1990. Based in Geneva, he served as the second-ranking official at UNHCR during a pivotal period of global displacement. His leadership helped strengthen the agency’s capacity to respond to refugee crises worldwide, and he championed the integration of protection principles into all humanitarian operations.

In this role, Gene worked to enhance coordination among UN agencies, NGOs, and national governments, recognizing that effective humanitarian response required seamless collaboration across institutional boundaries. His efforts to promote burden-sharing among nations and to elevate refugee protection on the international agenda left a lasting imprint on the global refugee system.

Margaret McKelvey (PRM):  “He was tenacious in his views and committed to multilateralism.”

Jan de Wilde (International Organization for Migration):  “Gene was a rare combination of the good and the practical.  Trust found an easy home in him.  His Christian faith was a quiet but driving force in his charitable works, at least as far as I could tell.”

Former U.S.  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reflected how Gene was devoted to a life of public service.  She called out his “belief that the world’s most difficult challenges require multilateral cooperation.  You represent the highest ideals of public service.”

Dr. Michel Gabaudan worked with Gene at UNHCR in Geneva.  He remembers Gene as “always extremely courteous and looking at how to solve problems, Gene always saw the individuals, and their suffering, behind the policies, or institutional politics that guided them, carried out by our offices. And he always calmly analyzed the broader context in which we operated, which he understood with discerning subtlety. Some 20 years later, when we met regularly during my stints in DC, Gene remained the same concerned, amiable and well informed person we had always known. A true humanitarian gentleman.”

Strategic Partnerships with International Organizations

From long and hard experience, Gene learned that the U.S. Government’s humanitarian efforts were most effective when conducted in partnership with established international organizations. He cultivated long and deep operational relationships with UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration.

In January 2002, Gene was appointed Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration where he oversaw a humanitarian budget of over $700 million a year in refugee assistance that flowed through NGOs and international organizations.

Kelly Clements (UNHCR):  “We worked most closely together when he was Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration from 2002 to 2005 and I was Deputy Director of Policy and Resource Planning.  He argued forcefully for the U.S. to address significant humanitarian need from increased displacement in multiple parts of the world, including importantly in and around Afghanistan with senior department, White House, and Congressional leadership.  I remember in particular his first budget defense in front of then Deputy Secretary Robert Zoellick – neither were shrinking violets and it made a lasting impression on me at a young age. He carried the day and our robust budget request proceeded to the White House.”

IV. Charitable Initiatives and Enduring Legacy

Gene co-founded the nonprofit, USA for UNHCR, establishing an enduring bridge between American compassion and global refugee protection. His role as Director Emeritus of USA for IOM further amplified his influence on international migration policy.  In 2018, USA for UNHCR, established “the Gene Dewey Refugee Award” in his honor, recognizing individuals who demonstrate visionary leadership and extraordinary dedication to helping forcibly displaced people.   The award’s criteria, courage, selflessness, sacrifice, and humility, mirror Gene’s values.   Recipients include refugee-led organizations in Uganda to the Eleon Foundation providing therapy for Ukrainian refugee children in Poland.

Jeff Meer (US Association for UNHCR):  “Gene was one of the first people I met who could move smoothly between public and private service.  I learned so much in watching him do that.”

Kelly Clements (UNHCR)  “While there are many Gene stories, the other piece of lasting advice I remember from our PRM days together is something often repeated now, with due credit to Gene.:  ‘there are no lessons learned, only lessons identified.’  We can all take that to heart.”

Eric Schwartz (State) remembers Gene as:  “a true humanitarian who was prepared to speak and lend his expertise without concern about which political party was in the White House. He will truly be missed. May his memory be a blessing.”

Encouragement of Others

Gene’s legacy lives on through the institutions he helped build and the countless lives transformed by his dedication. The award bearing his name continues to inspire new generations of humanitarian leaders, ensuring that his vision for a more compassionate world endures.

Betsy Lippman (State):    “Gene showed me the ropes.  How he used his discerning intelligence, diplomatic skills and knowledge were incredible to watch and learn from.  His passion and caring for the forcibly displaced was so clear and his drive to change their lives for the better and help them find solutions was always at work.”

Margaret Zeigler (CHC)  “First and foremost, in a town like Washington DC, where most people rarely share the limelight, Gene was radically different: he always created space for young people, like me, to get involved in everything he was working on”

Angela Berry (UNHCR) remembers Gene coming through with needed supplies when she reported her assessments.  “He simply told me to stay the course. After a month, he called me back to Headquarters. He never drew me into the immense politics of that mission; he asked only that I remain true to the technical and humanitarian purpose of the work.” 

John Buche (State):  “At my 90th birthday party, after the string quartet had played “Happy Birthday”, I asked Gene to say a “few words”.  Gene began with mentions of my college education, my army experience, my Foreign Service assignments, pointed out meeting me for the first time when I was in Zambia, continued with my assignments working together in PRM, and ended with recollections from our discussions at our luncheon get togethers in retirement. I felt so honored!”

Mukesh Kapilla (UK Government):  “He was a good man and in my dealings with him I found him sincere, serious and sympathetic in co-operating constructively even as global and American politics swirled around us.”

Following the news of Gene’s passing, many offered testimonials, as Bill Hyde (IOM) notes:  “Over the past days I’ve watched a cascade of emotion burst forth from decades of civil servants who were touched by Gene Dewey. Every person swiftly pulled up ‘a Gene moment’ – the time he listened when they needed it; the time he paused in his own busy life to guide them to do better; the time he reached out and amplified the effect of their efforts by easing a path. Many were surprised that a senior official like Gene even remembered them to offer help – but that’s exactly the kind of man he was. Gene didn’t need the praise, he simply wanted everyone to serve the best that they could. “

V. Recognition and Personal Life

Margaret McKelvey (State):  “A committed Christian, he often cited the Biblical verse “the truth shall set you free” – not as a theological statement but as an admonition to always give a complete and truthful assessment of a humanitarian situation along with a detailed “get well” plan.“

During his final year, Gene was still at work writing and corresponding and trying to educate the U.S. government about how to save lives, as in this letter to the editor in the Washington Post (May 2, 2025), titled A Missing Sense of Duty, wherein he recalled the USG’s success in 1985 in stopping measles deaths during the Ethiopian famine through vaccinations, and questioning the recent changes in US policy, writing:  “Where is that sense of duty for potential measles victims in America today?  Health leaders who plant unscientific doubts about vaccine safety need to be held accountable.”

A few weeks before his passing, Gene met for lunch with Don Krumm:  “he was looking incredibly spry.  He talked about emergency operations in Africa was a high-water mark in Africa.  We talked about old times.  He said he was working on some draft recommendations.  He was an exemplary person, driven to do good. “

Gene’s  contributions earned distinguished recognition, including the Distinguished Graduate Award from West Point in 2006 and the John W. Gardner Legacy of Leadership Award in 2011.

Angela Berry (UNHCR):  “Quiet. Kind. Sincere. Reflective. These are the qualities I will always associate with Gene Dewey. They are also the qualities that defined his extraordinary gift to the world and to all who had the privilege of knowing him.”

Bill Hyde (IOM):  “I recall a dozen times over the years when I would receive an unexpected note from Gene. Each would convey his awareness, his appreciation, his offer in some way to contribute. And then he would slip away again, asking neither thanks or focus. Only better service. That’s the definition of a humanitarian.”

Throughout his peripatetic humanitarian life, his wife Priscilla provided unwavering support, for which he expressed profound gratitude.

March 8, 2026

Further informaon about Gene Dewey:

To see Ambassador Dewey’s testimony to Congress about Haiti, see the March 3, 2004 CSpan Haiti testimony where he speaks 46 minutes in:  https://www.c-span.org/program/house-committee/political-crisis-in-haiti/197804

https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/mss/mfdip/2004/2004buc02/2004buc02.pdf

The Use of Food as a Weapon: Reflections Working with Khmer Refugees

Field Experience on the Thai–Cambodian Border, 1979

The year was 1979.  In October, I braved the streets of Bangkok, Thailand at five o’clock in the morning to get on a volunteer bus bound for the Thai–Cambodian border. Our destination was Sakeo, a newly established refugee camp sheltering 30,000 sick and dying Cambodian displaced people.

The camp sprawled across a large rice field.  Because it was the rainy season, there was thick mud everywhere and rows of blue tarpaulins stamped with UNHCR logos.  A so-called “hospital” occupied one corner of the encampment, made up of several large tents hastily erected by volunteer organizations.  There were few trained staff or expatriate presence.  The  stench of excrement, death, and human suffering overwhelmed me.

I was only 23 years old, utterly unprepared for what lay ahead. Yet every time I reached a breaking point, I found renewed motivation in the urgency and desperation of those I was trying to help.

In the beginning, I volunteered in the tuberculosis ward, which was just a large tent attached to the International Rescue Committee. I had the honor of being trained over a few days by the Medical Missionary Sisters, a group of nuns from the United States.

My training consisted of rudimentary nursing skills: giving injections, carrying water, applying medical bandages, and setting up IVs. For about a month, this became my daily work.

Early on, a UN reufgee camp coordinator suggested I return to Bangkok to sign up formally with the International Rescue Committee, an NGO.  I did so and was hired on the spot, returning quickly to the Sakheo camp.

Addressing Deficiency Diseases

At one point, someone learned that I had training in nutrition. They approached me because there was an apparent outbreak of a thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency disease in the camp.  This was unsurprising: the population arriving from Khmer Rouge–controlled areas inside Cambodia had endured prolonged malnutrition and starvation under Pol Pot, and the food rations at Sakeo were grossly inadequate.

I examined the food being distributed and discovered it lacked sufficient protein and particularly B vitamins, causing deficiencies that were manifesting as disease.  I recommended adding mung beans to the rations. Once implemented, with such a simple intervention, we saw a rapid improvement in the health of many refugees, and several deficiency syndromes began to disappear.

Discovering Food Distribution Inequities

What this article  explores formed the basis of my later master’s thesis, “The Use of Food as a Weapon.”

Through my translator, I began receiving complaints from refugees across the camp that they were not receiving their proper food rations at the distribution points. To investigate, I brought scales, set up a table, and—together with translators—began weighing the food voluntarily as refugees exited the distribution site.

Each person was supposed to receive specific gram amounts of rice, meat, mung beans, and vegetables. But after a week or two, it became clear that there were major discrepancies: some people were receiving more than the allotted amount, and some much less.

Naively, as a 23-year-old, just fresh out of my university in the U.S., I set up public weighing stations and posted the expected ration amounts on a board, so people could check whether their distribution matched the standard.

Uncovering Coercion by the Khmer Rouge

I soon learned that my actions had unintentionally disrupted a covert power structure within the camp. The Khmer Rouge, still active among the refugees, were manipulating food distribution to coerce people to return to Cambodia and submit to Pol Pot’s authority. Those who complied received extra food; those who resisted received less or none.

Rumors of this circulated quickly. Not long after, I was summoned by the UN head of the camp to attend a meeting with the “refugee leadership”—in reality, Khmer Rouge operatives and former enforcers. The topic was this “major food distribution problem.”

As I walked to the meeting, my knees were shaking. I remember thinking, “Oh my God… what have I done?”

The Confrontation

As I walked into the tent, I saw a group of four or five men, the head of the UN office seated at the front, and a few others gathered around. I took a seat and immediately noticed the serious expression on the UN head’s face. It was clear that the situation was grave.

The Khmer Rouge representatives expressed their displeasure at the UN’s control over the food distribution points. They wanted to regain authority over the rationing system. Fortunately for me—and for the refugees—the head of the UNHCR office was exceptionally firm.  He declared that control over food distribution would not be relinquished, as the food was provided by UNHCR and must be distributed equitably.

During the meeting, they asked about what was my role. I sat there uncomfortably, only to hear the UNHCR leader announce that I was now “in charge” of food distribution.  Well, this was news to me, but apparently, my job had just changed.

Unexpected Negotiation

After the meeting, the Khmer Rouge representatives approached me. My heart sank andI thought, “This is it — I won’t survive this new role.”

But to my surprise, they asked for extra rice for weddings, explaining that many young people were marrying after years of prohibition under the Khmer Rouge. Relieved, I agreed to arrange extra rice allocations for wedding celebrations, which helped defuse tensions and built a tenuous rapport.

Scaling Up the System

The next phase was to expand the weighing stations across all food distribution points. We posted clear boards showing exact ration weights per person, enabling refugees to verify whether they were receiving their proper share.

A few months later, when the camp was preparing to move, the Khmer Rouge leadership could only coerce less than one-third of the population to return to the border. By shifting control to transparent, neutral distribution mechanisms, we had undermined their power and protected the majority of refugees who remained.

This simple innovation became a systematic new process adopted by the UN in the 16 refugee camps across Thailand in 1980.  We replicated the weighing stations and ration boards, giving people the right to know their entitlements and receive adequate food.  Then, I was hired by the UN, and we expanded this practice to refugee camps all over the world.  I had the honor of working with UNHCR for thirty years in numerous countries afterward, helping develop guidelines and manuals to institutionalize equitable food distribution systems globally.

Entitlement & Moral Responsibility

I share this story, learned nearly 50 years ago, because today we are again facing a dangerous trend of using food as a tool of coercion. In several contexts, food aid is being blocked or manipulated to control civilian populations, undermining the principles of human rights that humanitarian actors fought to establish decades ago.

The concept of entitlement is central to any aid program. Food and health care are not favors—they are human rights essential to survival. When entitlement is stripped away by those in power—whether through guns or the lingering trauma of past violence—a profound moral disequilibrium is created. Our failure to uphold these principles represents a corrosion of obvious ethical standards.

Over the years, the UN — especially the World Food Programme — developed extensive tools, kits, and guidelines to uphold these principles. Yet too often, these manuals gather dust on shelves while oversight and neutrality waver on the ground.

Ultimately, the neutrality of humanitarian agencies and their ability to ”hold power—not yield it to armed actors—“ remains the cornerstone of equitable food distribution. In recent years, we’ve witnessed how corrupted access to food can become when neutrality erodes.

We often say, “Let’s learn from our past mistakes.”   This story is a reminder that transparency, entitlement, and moral clarity in humanitarian aid are not abstract ideals—they are lifesaving practices.

  •      –  Angela Berry-Koch, Former UNHCR Senior Nutrition Adviser, currently faculty at Psychiatry Redefined and contributor to Hunger Notes, 12 Oct. 2025