On October 9, Rovshan Rzayev, Chairman of the State Committee For Affairs of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons met with Mr. Manfred Profazi, Regional Director for South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Mr. Amr Taha, temporary head of the representative office of organization in our country.
At the meeting, the guests were provided with detailed information about the main directions of the state policy in the field of affairs with refugees and internally displaced persons. It was highlighted that President Ilham Aliyev pays special attention and care to citizens of this category, First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva is always responsive to the solution of their social problems and provides powerful stand.
It has been pointed out that as a result of the 44-day Patriotic War and one-day anti-terrorist measures, the territorial integrity and state sovereignty of our country were fully ensured, large-scale repair and reconstruction work had been carried out in the liberated territories, the return of internally displaced persons to their former places of residence had begun, and measures had been taken to further accelerate this process, the guests were provided with information on the work done in this direction. It was highlighted that the Azerbaijani state adopt the necessary steps to ensure the voluntary, safe and dignified return of IDPs based on international principles. In this respect, a special State Program covering the period until 2026 has been adopted and is being implemented successfully. Up to this time, more than 2,000 IDPs have been repatriated to newly built and restored settlements in the liberated areas. All together, it was pointed out that the elimination of the affects of the mine terrorism carried out by Armenia on Azerbaijani territory during the occupation period and afterwards slowed down the return process.
The Chairman of the State Committee mentioned with pleasure the actions to support carried out by international organizations in relation to internally displaced persons. He underlined that IOM’s measures to support public activities in areas of temporary resettlement of internally displaced persons, as well as the restoration of important water sources in Jabrayil liberated from occupation, deserve special praise.
Manfred Profazi, Regional Director for International Organization for Migration expressed his appreciation for the hearty greeting and stressed the importance of effectively further cooperation with the State Committee.
At the meeting, issues related to the ongoing operations of the IOM and forthcoming endeavors of common concern, the State Program of the Great Return to the territories liberated from occupation, were discussed.
