Launch of the 63rd session of Executive Committee of Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva

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Mətbuat xidmətinin məlumatı 02 October, 2012

The 63rd session of the Executive Committee of the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees launched it activity in Geneva on October 1. Representatives of member states, as well as representatives of non-members of the Executive Committee, the UN agencies and influential international organizations and non-governmental organizations will take part as observers at the session which will last till October 5. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres opened the session and spoke about the issues on agenda, made a speech on activities carried out after the last session and the future duties. The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ali Hasanov made a speech and greeted the participants of the session, expressed his gratitude to all states which supported Azerbaijan in being selected as member of UNHCR Executive Committee and thanked to Antonio Guterres for his speech. Distinguished Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen! I would like to start my speech with expressing my gratitude to all states that have supported our country in its accession to membership of the UNHCR Executive Committee and to High Commissioner, Mr. Guterres for his valuable analytical speech. The Government of Azerbaijan has always highly appreciated its cooperation with UNHCR Executive Committee and has always supported the activities of the agency both within the country and at the international level. Unfortunately, the past two years of UNHCR’s activities were full of unexpected humanitarian crises. The cases of mass migration in number of African and Arab countries have imposed on the UNHCR the new task to deal with the new problems of refugees and displaced persons, alongside with already long pending instances of refugees and IDPs. We applaud the UNHCR's ability to respond to emerging crises situations in a timely manner and notwithstanding the scale of the problem of internally displaced persons within our country, we continue to support resolving the humanitarian crises in different parts of the world. Azerbaijan is among the countries that suffer from the problems of the internally displaced persons for a long time. From the first years of its independence, our country, as a result of the foreign policy of occupation and ethnic cleansing of neighbouring Armenia has faced the problem of 20 percent of our territories being under military occupation and 1 million refugees and internally displaced persons. Despite the fact that more than 20 years have passed, the issue of Azerbaijanis returning to their native lands and homes has not been resolved yet. The surrounding districts of Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan have been totally demolished. The two fact-finding and assessment missions of OSCE, during their visit to the occupied territories have confirmed the complete destruction of the region and land settlement of the area by ethnic Armenians settled from other countries. The occupied territories have turned into ruins with no conditions to live. The entire infrastructure was destroyed, cemeteries, mosques were razed to the ground and the toponyms were changed. The process of recovery and land settlement is continuing in the occupied territories. This is the real picture of the conflict, and it is perpetrated by Armenia. Since the problem of refugees and displaced persons in the country has emerged, the Government of Azerbaijan has been fulfilling its duties. Thus a number of measures have been taken by the Government of Azerbaijan for the solution of the problems of refugees and IDPs through the assistance of international donors, including UNHCR. Subsidized by the State Oil Fund, the last one from existing 12 large scale tent camps was abolished in 2007, and 71 modern settlements fully equipped with all the social and technical infrastructures were established, the living conditions of 23 thousand families, 120 thousand people, were improved. 250 thousand refugees expelled from Armenia and 50 thousand refugees from Central Asia were granted with Azerbaijani citizenship. For the last 20 years 5.4 billion $ U.S. were spent on resolution of social problems of refugees and internally displaced persons, of which 900 million were accounted for by international humanitarian organizations. As a result of these measures, the poverty level among refugees and internally displaced persons has dropped from 74 percent to 18 percent. Mr. Guterres has personally witnessed these accomplishments and achievements while rendering a visit to Azerbaijan. This progress did not come easily for the Government of Azerbaijan and the problem has not been solved yet. 400 thousand internally displaced people are still dwelling in buildings unsuitable for living, in difficult conditions. In this regard, Azerbaijan is still in need of the international organizations and donor support. In per capita terms Azerbaijan has one of the highest numbers of the internally displaced persons in the world.. Sustaining a 1 million refugees and internally displaced persons is an extremely heavy burden. The only solution to this problem is for Armenia to liberate the occupied territories of Azerbaijan to allow internally displaced persons return to their native lands. However, 18 years after the cease-fire 700 thousands of internally displaced persons, are still unable to return to their homes, following a non-constructive position taken by Armenia. It should be noted that importance of allowing Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons to return to their homes, was underlined in 4 resolutions of the UN Security Council and in a number of international documents, and the implementation of this demand of the international community is very important for substantive ensuring their rights. We shouldn’t be thinking that by providing housing for those who have been internally displaced people for a long period of time, and by solving their social issues we will have the problem dissolved over time. I would like to remind you that the silent stance of the international community in cases of long-term displaced persons is a real threat to international peace and security. Taking this into account, we are appealing to the international community to demonstrate an all-sided fair position, not limited to activities of the humanitarian nature only, but to actually take necessary political steps to eradicate the real causes of the problem. This will reduce the humanitarian burden carried by international organizations including the UNHCR. The Government of Azerbaijan, together with UNHCR and other international organizations, is preparing a program titled “Grand Return” aimed at the return of displaced persons to their homes and is ready to do its utmost to allow internally displaced persons to return to their homes on a voluntary basis, in safety and dignity. Azerbaijan firmly trusts in the UNHCR's mandate and activities, and we are working with hard determination in order to have our existing legislation harmonized with the highest international standards. In this context, currently the work on the new migration code is being finalized. We are fully committed to the pledges made during the Ministerial Conference in December last year, and in order to comply with international standards on these issues, we are maintaining close cooperation with UNHCR. Finally, I must note regretfully, that according to UNHCR surveys in recent years, as a result of conflicts and natural disasters in the world, the problem of refugees and particularly of internally displaced persons has become even bigger. Considering the large scale of IDP problem in the world, I would like to appeal once again to the international community, as well as to UNHCR, and urge for the soonest elimination of the existing gaps concerning the rights of IDPs in the international law and the elaboration of the draft of the relevant international convention in that regard. This would also be an important step for the implementation of the commitments of all parties for the solution of the problems faced by IDPs. Session continues its activity.