Chief of State Migration Service met with the Director General for Consular Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

At the meeting with Director General for Consular Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Sergey Pogoreltsev, Chief of State Migration Service, II rank state migration service counselor Firudin Nabiyev spoke about the existing friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Ukraine. He noted that Azerbaijan and Ukraine closely cooperate both on bilateral and multilateral basis.

During the meeting which was held in the atmosphere of mutual opinion exchange, “Agreement between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Ukraine on friendship, cooperation and partnership”, as well as “Declaration between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Ukraine on friendship and strategic partnership” were recalled. Moreover, the importance of the “Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on visa-free travel of citizens”, as well as “Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on labor activity and social protection of the citizens of Ukraine temporarily working on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan and citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan temporarily working on the territory of Ukraine” was touched upon.

Chief of the Service informed that as a result of the official Yerevan`s policy of ethnic cleansing at the end of 80s and in the beginning of 90s of the last century, more than 250.000 Azerbaijanis were expelled by force from their native land, which is Armenian territory today, and fled to Azerbaijan. Due to occupation of 20% of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as 7 adjacent regions of Azerbaijan by Armenian armed forces, more than 700.000 Azerbaijanis became IDP and were temporarily settled in different regions of the republic. 4 resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council on immediate and peaceful settlement of the conflict, liberation of the occupied territories from the Armenian armed forces and return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their homelands have not been implemented for more than 25 years.

Firudin Nabiyev stated that provision of rapid socio-economic development of Azerbaijan, implementation of international projects in energy, transport and other fields, improvement of living standards of people in recent years under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, as well as geographic position of our country have resulted in further intensification of migration processes and have turned our country to a destination country from a country of origin from migration point of view.

Currently, Azerbaijan pursues active migration policy in order to influence migration processes occurring in the region, to control migration flows to the territory of the country, to manage and regulate migration processes within the country according to national legislation against the background of globalization that is taking place around the world. Talking about the actuality of the regulation of migration processes, the protection of migrants’ rights in the contemporary world, Service Chief added that ensuring regulation of migration processes in line with international standards, protection of migrants’ rights are among the priorities of Azerbaijan, as well. No violation of rights in regard to migrants on national, ethnic and religious grounds has been recorded so far. 

At the meeting it was noted that possibility of signing “Agreement between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Ukraine on cooperation in the field of migration” during the expected official visit of the Chairman of State Migration Service of Ukraine Maxim Sokolyuk in the upcoming months is under consideration. Moreover, relevant works are continued towards arrangement of the “Agreement between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Ukraine on readmission of persons residing without authorization”. 

Firudin Nabiyev stated that State Migration Service is always open for cooperation. He expressed his assurance that this visit will contribute to further development of bilateral cooperation.

Director General for Consular Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Sergey Pogoreltsev expressed his gratitude for cordial meeting.

At the meeting opinion exchange was conducted on other issues of mutual interest.

Ambassador of the Ukraine in our country Alexandr Mishenko participated at the meeting.