JAPAN WATCH : Ogata to the Rescue

The plight of refugees worldwide is a sad and unending problem whose burden rightly is carried by industrialized countries. Japan is one of these nations. Its humanitarian programs, like its foreign policy, offer a substantial cash value but fall short in other respects.

Now, Tokyo has an opportunity to exercise leadership in handling the problem of refugees. The United Nations recently appointed Sadako Ogata, dean of the faculty of foreign studies at Sophia University in Tokyo, to head the U.N. Office of High Commissioner for Refugees.

Ogata, 63, will be the first woman to head the commission when she assumes her three-year post today. She also is only the second Japanese to head a major agency of the United Nations. Ogata, a human rights expert, served with Japan’s U.N. mission from 1976 to 1979.

Ogata and other Japanese officials see her appointment as recognition of Japan’s mixed record on refugee relief. Yes, Tokyo’s 1989 contribution of $73.8 million to the United Nations refugee program is second only to the United States. But its refugee resettlements are less generous. In 1985, Tokyo expanded its resettlement quota to 10,000 from 500 in 1978, but only 7,000 of those slots have been filled. And its quota is one of the smallest among any industrialized nation.

The U.S-educated Ogata faces big challenges. Her financially troubled agency is responsible for 15 million refugees. Perhaps her efforts will get Japan more respect by persuading Tokyo to become more involved in this complex, worldwide problem.