UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres characterized Azerbaijan as an exemplary state for the care to refugees and IDPs

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Mətbuat xidmətinin məlumatı 03 October, 2012

Policy of the President of Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev pursued in regard to refugees and IDPs, steps towards the improvement of their social and economic condition, effective cooperation with international agencies in this field is yielding results, and Azerbaijan has been admitted to one more influential agency - the Executive Committee of the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. As it was informed, the 63rd session of the Executive Committee of the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees launched in Geneva on October 1 and Azerbaijan has for the first time been represented as a full member in this event. The delegation of Azerbaijan led by the Deputy Prime Minister, chair of the State Committee for Deals of Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov takes part in the event that will last a week. The Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov met with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres on October 2. The High Commissioner mentioned his visit to Azerbaijan on August 15-18, 2006 and May 18-19, 2011, said he remembered his meeting with the President Ilham Aliyev with pleasure and expressed his gratitude for high-level reception and hospitality. A.Guterres stated he became familiar with the problems faced by IDPs during his meeting with them in tent camps and other places of temporary settlement, and witnessed the worthy achievements gained by the Government of Azerbaijan for the improvement of living conditions of people driven out of their native land. Then, referring to the letter addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov, A.Guterres once more emphasized that the actions carried out by the Government of Azerbaijan for the improvement of living conditions of refugees and IDPs and for ensuring their rights was a good example for the states with the same problems, and declared the desire of UNHCR to assist the Government of Azerbaijan in planning the process of movement of IDPs to their lands in the future. At the end, the High Commissioner congratulated Azerbaijan once more in connection with its being selected as a member of the UNHCR Executive Committee, emphasized that the membership will allow Azerbaijan to make constructive contribution to increase of awareness about global refugee needs, as well as to more active participation in making decisions on problems of refugees and IDPs in the world, and expressed his gratitude to Azerbaijan for its representation in the 63rd session of the Committee with the delegation of high level. The Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov stated that conveying the President Ilham Aliyev’s greetings to the High Commissioner was honour for him, and noted that effective cooperation with UNHCR acting in Azerbaijan since 1992 developed successfully and that hoped for its durability after IDPs’ returning to their native lands. Emphasizing care of UNHCR leaders to refugees and IDPs in Azerbaijan, Ali Hasanov mentioned the visits of the former high commissioners Mrs. Sadako Ogata and Mr. Ruud Lubbers to Azerbaijan, close acquaintance with the conditions of IDPs in tent camps and construction of first asylums, social facilities for IDPs in Goygol and Beylagan, as well as laying of water supply with the length of 13 kilometres in Lachin winter fields in the territory of Agjabadi, through the UNHCR with the funds in 2.2 million USD allocated as grant by Italy’s ENI, also said such necessary humanitarian actions carried out in the time of our country’s weak economy would never be forgotten. The Deputy Prime Minister expressed his warm gratitude to the High Commissioner for letter sent to the government of Azerbaijan on the occasion of being selected a member of the UNHCR Executive Committee and for noting the desire of greeting Azerbaijan in the following plenary session of the Executive Committee as a new member. Ali Hasanov evaluated the selection of Azerbaijan as a member of other UN influential agency as a result of highly and fairly appreciating resolution demonstrated by the President of Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev for finding solutions of social problems of people driven out of their native lands by Armenian armed forces, as well as close cooperation with international humanitarian organizations acting in the country and with UNHCR, also fulfilling the obligations under the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol relating to Status of Refugees, to which Azerbaijan has been a part since 1993. The Deputy Prime Minister offered to hold international conference dedicated to refugees, IDPs, people intending to get the status of “refugee” and the issues of migration, in Baku in 2013 together with UNHCR. At the end of the meeting, Guterres was presented, in English, documentary film “Homesickness... unquenchable hopes”, handbooks dedicated to the actions carried out in regard to social protection of refugees and IDPs during the period of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev and the President of Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev, improvement of their living conditions, poverty reduction and increasing employment.