Chairman of the State Committee for Affairs of Refugees and IDPs Rovshan Rzayev met with the representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Azerbaijan Mrs. Bik Lum and experts of the Joint IDP Profiling Service (JIPS).

At the meeting, the guests were informed in detail about the problem of refugees and forced displacement faced by our country as a result of Armenia's policy of occupation and deportation, the measures taken to solve it, the activities of the state committee, the realities arising after the liberation of our lands from occupation, and the Great Return program. It was noted that support and care for refugees and IDPs occupies a special place in the social policy of President Ilham Aliyev, and First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva always pays attention to improving their living conditions, solving issues of education, health and cultural development.

It was noted that, according to the principles of international law, the committee implements the tasks set by the state for the voluntary, safe and dignified return of IDPs to their native lands. To date, more than 2 thousand IDPs have been settled in their native lands permanently. During the Great Return, appropriate measures are taken to assess the needs and potential of IDPs, at the same time, the study of international practice in this area will contribute to the proper establishment of activities.

Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Azerbaijan Mrs. Bik Lum said that 2 experts of the Joint IDP Profiling Service (JIPS), an inter-agency body of international organizations, will operate in the State Committee on September 17-27, 2023, and together with the staff of the committee, based on international practice, they will prepare realistic, short, medium and long-term recommendations for managing existing information on internal displacement, improving their use and creating new capacity. The results obtained will form the basis of a future potential project between the State Committee, UNHCR and JIPS. Experts will also hold meetings with relevant structural units of the State Committee.

During the meeting, numerous questions of experts were answered and views on issues of mutual interest were exchanged.