Morten Kjaerum: Upholding Human Rights for All – Speaker at WHRCF 2018
Written by Wilson Melbostad
Photographs courtesy of Morten Krjaerum
Those who live, have lived, or have even visited Gwangju know that the city prides itself on its recognition of democracy (even when others did not) and forward thinking in regards to human rights. It was this fighting spirit that fueled the student uprisings against the Japanese imperialists in 1929, the May 18 Uprising against a brutal dictatorship in 1980, the city’s passing of the 1998 Asian Human Rights Charter, and ultimately the decision to host the World Human Rights Cities Forum, which has been a staple of Gwangju tradition since 2013. For those who might not know, the aforementioned World Human Rights Cities Forum is a collection of policymakers, members of civil society, and human rights experts who gather over a three-day symposium to share the best practices and envision new strategies for the protection of human rights at local levels. Since the forum is just around the corner, (October 17–20 at the Kim Daejung Convention Center), this is an opportune time to introduce our readership to not only one of the most exciting speakers at the event but also a long-time, world-renowned protector of human rights in local and international arenas.
Morten Kjaerum, hailing from Denmark, has been director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Sweden since 2015. He has also served as the director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in Vienna as well as the founding director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights. Appointed by the UN Secretary General, Kjaerum chairs the Board of Trustees for the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights, he also served during 2002–2008 as a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). Aside from his long list of accolades, this interview will also showcase Kjaerum’s truly admirable qualities, namely, his humility and incredible passion to serve other fellow humans.
Gwangju News (GN): Please tell us about yourself as well as the organization you currently work for. What is your current position, and what types of people do you serve?
Morten Kjaerum: I am a grandfather of three small boys, and a lot of what drives me is to fulfill their right to a future together with all the other small boys and girls across the globe. That has always been what pushed me ahead. After I graduated from law school, my first job was to defend asylum seekers arriving in Denmark. This was in the 1980s. At that job, I was also deeply involved in developing the newly established NGO network, European Council of Refugees and Exiles, of which I am proud to be the chairperson today.
The Raoul Wallenberg Institute (RWI), which I am also in charge of today, is named after the prominent Swedish diplomat who went out of his way to rescue many Jews and others out of Budapest, Hungary, in 1944–1945. He was a true humanist. Thus, our work is in his spirit: protecting the individual. We do research, education, and direct engagement in the field of human rights, primarily addressing people on the move, inclusion and non-discrimination, economic globalization, and rule of law. Apart from the head office in Lund that covers the European region, we have regional offices in Nairobi to cover Africa, Amman to cover the Middle East and North Africa, and Jakarta to cover Asia. These regional offices are complemented by bilateral offices in Beijing, Phnom Penh, and Istanbul. We firmly believe that by working together, alongside our regional offices and their local partners, we can double the impact of our work; and with the current challenges worldwide, there is no time to waste on counterproductive competition and infighting. We owe that to all those that have put trust in us for many years.
GN: What was your initial inspiration for pursuing a career in law, in particular, public interest and human rights law?
Kjaerum: When I was out of high school, in 1976 (after spending one year in the US during 1974–75), I lived and worked with a group of irregular migrants in France. At that time, the irregular migrants where Spaniards from southern Spain, where they had a small olive farm. They spent 9–10 months on the roads of Europe taking the lowest-paid jobs in industry and agriculture. I stayed with them for some months and saw how they were treated by people in the community, by the authorities, and by the police. Since I was by far the best educated (after only finishing high school!), they always turned to me for advice. Thus, that led me to law, and two years into the study, we opened in my hometown of Aarhus the first legal aid office for migrants. The experience has followed me ever since. I told this story when I, in my capacity as director of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), met the Spanish minister of the interior, who was utterly hostile to irregular migrants. I reminded him that only some years ago it was his people who were the irregulars.
GN: In light of your experiences (whether within CERD, the Refugee Asylum Department, the Danish Center for Human Rights, or anywhere else you have worked), what have you learned about the human capacity for racism or bigotry towards other humans? Are there particular circumstances that you have found to give rise to greater levels of hatred in people?
Kjaerum: I firmly believe in the good in people – the smile is the shortest way between human beings. However, hatred against the other can be orchestrated and stimulated in particular if two conditions are present: (1) times of uncertainty/insecurity and (2) the existence of cynical leaders who are ready to pull the hate card. As far as the first condition is concerned, we live in such times now with new technologies creating lots of insecurity about the future labor market, climate change impacts, globalization in general, and a sense of uncontrolled migration. As to the second condition, political leaders have great difficulties in addressing the issues why it has been tempting for many leaders – despite repeated warnings from the likes of CERD and other international human rights mechanisms – to divert attention from the real fears to the imagined “evil other.” In Europe, the arrival of Syrian refugees in 2015 offered such a window of opportunity for the populists that they could not resist. The refugee challenge in Europe could have been resolved by collaboration; however, solidarity was weak and populism has prevailed. One lesson learned is that hate against others does not need to be rooted in reality. In Poland, you have a strong base of anti-Semitism with only a few thousand Jews living there. It is very much about creating and sustaining the fear. In Europe, politicians and media have for more than 25 years talked about Muslims very negatively. Fear of the unknown is easy to trigger. Thus, the ground is fertile for the next steps to be taken.
GN: There are more displaced peoples currently than ever before in human history. Despite this, there seems to be a widespread backlash from governments and (some) of their citizens against accepting these people into their countries. What has been your biggest hurdle in convincing others that refugees should not be viewed as detrimental to a nation’s development and culture? Have you found success in convincing people otherwise?
Kjaerum: In our work protecting refugees, we witness a more vocal opposition to receiving and including refugees into our societies. However, there is also sustained support throughout Europe in civil society to assist and include the refugees, and my impression is that a similar pattern ultimately prevails on other continents as well. What is important for the human rights environment – again, in Europe – is to address the real issues, including what works and what does not work. One serious backdrop for the anti-refugee/immigrant discussion is the so-called stigma of failed integration. This has become a common stereotype held by many; however, it needs to be challenged. What we see from many studies, including from FRA, is that integration has been highly successful. In many countries, including my home country of Denmark, you see proportionally more Muslim women in higher education than Danish women. The immigrants have the same or an even higher trust in democratic institutions than the majority population. These trends are reflected at every level.
At the same time, migrants, and their kids in particular, figure more often in crime statistics – and that is something we need to address more proactively. It should be noted though, that if we make a historical class analysis, then the lower classes today (composed largely of immigrants) are way more peaceful and law-abiding than before when the working classes were made up entirely of Danes, Frenchmen, Germans, etc. All this needs to be put on the table and discussed, but currently it is very difficult to get the messages through. Thus, the human rights world needs to improve its communication strategies.
GN: Transitioning gears a little bit, I am wondering how, over the course of your career, you’ve managed your work–life balance. What activities do you pursue outside of work to keep yourself grounded and sane?
Kjaerum: First, I do not really like the concept of work–life balance: If work is not life, most people have a miserable life, and that I do not believe. In all my director positions, I have talked about work–social or family–life balance. This is of course an indicator of where I come from: I am sitting here during my vacation with the privilege of spending my time to partake in this interview. This is work, and yet I really do not mind. My wife is sitting just across from me working on her articles. I was able to find a great partner, and thankfully we share the same approach to life; otherwise, it would not have worked out. We have two great sons and now three grandchildren. Family has always been a key part of my life. Apart from that, I run and do cross-country skiing. I make a point of always reading novels, listening to music, and pursuing other things that can bring me away from or closer to human rights issues. Finally, we have very good friends who are involved in other things than we are. In fact, we have some friends that we have had dinner with once a week for 35 years!
GN: In light of the upcoming World Human Rights Cities Forum, can you speak a little bit about how you feel cities fit into the landscape of upholding human rights, as well as how RWI will particularly contribute to the forum?
Kjaerum: Cities play a key role in upholding human rights, and many cities (if not most) still do not realize their relevance in such roles. People live locally, so this is where human rights first and foremost should unfold. Human rights, in this regard, should not be viewed through the lens of legal standards, but rather as a way of perceiving citizens as people and understanding their role as duty bearers. Discussions should be centered around how to shape institutions so they meet the real needs of citizens, including the most vulnerable, and how to create a city space so that everybody feels included, even to the point where the elderly dare to venture out into the public space without a perceived fear of being mugged. Of course, human rights are also legal standards, thus the local authorities need to establish mechanisms for mediation and redress in order for people to have trust in the system as such. In that way, local authorities have a unique possibility to recreate some of the trust in democracy and democratic institutions that has been lost in recent years.
As far as this upcoming World Human Rights Cities Forum is concerned, in close collaboration with the other partners in the forum, RWI will bring in our experience and investigate how human rights can be made more concrete in a very local setting. A further dimension I look forward to exploring is how city planners, architects, and entrepreneurs can contribute towards creating a living and inclusive city. The list of qualified guests is long, and I look forward to meeting colleagues again this year, as well as exploring ways to strengthen the forum and global networks in this regard.
GN: We would like to extend a very special thank you for your time. It was a pleasure speaking with you.
Kjaerum: The pleasure was all mine, thank you so much. Looking forward to seeing you at the forum.
World Human Rights Cities Forum 세계인권도시포럼
Dates: October 18–21, 2018
Venue: Kim Daejung Convention Center, Gwangju
Inquiries: 062-226-2734
Website: http://whrcf.org/
The Author
Wilson Melbostad is an international human rights attorney hailing from San Francisco, California. Wilson has returned to Gwangju to undertake his newest project: the Organization for Migrant Legal Aid (OMLA), which operates out of the Gwangju International Center. He has also taken on the position of managing editor of the Gwangju News.