Wilfried Buchhorn was appointed Representative of UNHCR in Croatia in 2007

Mr. Wilfried Buchhorn was born on 24 June 1959 in Raisdorf, Province Schleswig-Holstein, North Germany. He holds a law degree from the Christan-Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany and passed the Second Juridical State Exam in Berlin in 1989. He speaks German, English and French.

In 1989, Mr Buchhorn began his career as Attorney at Law at the Law Firm Daniels and Partner, in Berlin, Germany. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and political as well as historical changes in Germany, he assumed the position of Legal Advisor to the Aliens Commissioner of the German Democratic Republic in Berlin, where he provided advice in preparing main Government decisions and laws governing the status and rights of foreigners, refugees and asylum seekers. He was in charge of assisting the provincial governments and municipalities in Eastern Germany in preparations to host asylum seekers and refugees. In this function he actively participated in public activities raising awareness for the situation of refugees and foreigners and the promotion of tolerance and respect for human rights.

Committed to support the worlds most vulnerable people, he joined UNHCR in 1994, as the Protection Officer in UNHCR Mission to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Skopje, where he was in charge of providing protection and finding solutions for the refugees from the conflict in the region. In 1995, he was appointed Regional Refugee Law Training Officer in the then Regional UNHCR Representation for Central Europe in Vienna, providing support for the promotion of refugees and human rights law to all relevant stakeholders in the region. In this capacity, Mr. Buchhorn was also actively involved in the development of Asylum systems in the then Candidate Countries of Central Europe and the Baltic States in preparation for their EU Membership.

In 2001, he began working as the Legal /Training Officer for UNHCR Representation in Berlin, Germany, where he focused on promotion and advocacy of international protection standards in the context of the German asylum policy and the EU Asylum Harmonization Process.

He joined UNHCR Croatia team in 2006, initially as the Senior Protection Officer. In 2007, he was appointed Representative, contributing immensely in finding adequate solutions for the remaining refugees, returnees and displaced persons from the armed conflict in the region as well as assisting Croatia in meeting European and international protection standards in preparation for their EU Membership.