UNHCR Country Representative Shinji Kubo’s Makes His Farewell Courtesy Call on Secretary Locsin

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. (left) and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative to the Philippines Shinji Kubo (right) during the farewell call today. 

(Photo by DFA-OPCD Philip Fernandez)

PASAY CITY 17 December 2020 - UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative to the Philippines Shinji Kubo made a farewell courtesy call on Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. today as he ends his tour of duty this month. Mr. Kubo has led the UNHCR in the Philippines since August 2018.

During the farewell call, Secretary Locsin and Mr. Kubo engaged in discussions on how UNHCR has been instrumental in assisting the Philippine Government in better protecting refugees, stateless persons, and asylum seekers; Philippines’ offer of assistance to refugees, particularly its voluntary contribution to the UNHCR to be used in responding to the needs of refugees from the Rakhine State; and how the Philippines and the UNHCR can further strengthen their cooperation in the coming year.

Secretary Locsin thanked Mr. Kubo for his leadership of UNHCR in the Philippines and UNHCR’s assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic, affirmed the Philippines’ continuing commitment to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees; its 1967 Protocol; and the 1954 Convention on The Status of Stateless Persons. END