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Delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan attends the 71th session of the Executive Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
The delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan led by the Chief of the State Migration Service, III rank state migration service counselor Vusal Huseynov participates in the 71st session of the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) started on October 5, 2020. On the first day of the session, which will last until October 9, delivering a speech in video format Chief of the State Migration Service Vusal Huseynov, acting as the head of the delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan, firstly drew attention to the incidents that are taking place around the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of our country. He noted that in the background of the fight against the pandemic by the international community, Armenia has not given up its traditional aggressive policy, firing on Azerbaijani settlements and military positions with heavy artillery. As a result, 24 Azerbaijani civilians, including 3 minors were killed. Vusal Huseynov stated that in response to these military provocations which have intensified recently, Azerbaijan has taken counter-offensive measures in order to liberate our lands under Armenian occupation, restore its internationally recognized borders, ensure safety of civilians, as well as restore the right of refugees and IDPs to return to their homelands.
The Chief of the Service informed the session participants that Armenia abuses the key principles of the international protection system and flagrantly violates the norms of international humanitarian law. He underlined that Armenia aims to alter the demographic situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan by carrying out the illegal resettlement of Armenians, persons from Armenian origin, as well as asylum seekers and mercenaries from the third countries in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
Later V.Huseynov gave information about the social projects implemented in our country for vulnerable people related with COVID-19 pandemic and the progress made in the procedure of refugee status determination in the Republic of Azerbaijan. He noted that the Republic of Azerbaijan has taken appropriate measures for implementation of its pledges made at the Global Refugee Forum and the High Level Segment on Statelessness in 2019. Thus, the inclusion of persons under the protection of the UNHCR Office in Azerbaijan in the medical insurance system has been ensured, as well as their legal employment and access to labor markets has been facilitated. Furthermore, relevant measures are being taken to support refugee students pursuing higher education.
The Chief of the Service noted that since January 2020, the Republic of Azerbaijan started to issue travel documents to ensure the freedom of movement of refugees. He noted that the measures taken were not only limited to the protection of refugees, but also concrete steps have been taken to eliminate statelessness in the country. V.Huseynov noted that since the last session, some stateless persons permanently residing in the Republic of Azerbaijan have already been granted citizenship by the relevant decrees of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as numerous applications in this category are currently under consideration.
At the end of his speech, the Chief of the Service once again stressed the importance of drawing attention of the international community to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and ending the Armenian occupation in order to establish peace in the region.
It should be noted that the Executive Committee, the highest governing body of the UNHCR, meets annually in Geneva to approve the organization's two-year program, budget, as well as to make global recommendations in the field of international protection. At this year's session of the Executive Committee, which acts as a subsidiary body to the UN General Assembly, a number of member states of the Committee are represented at the level of Prime ministers, deputy prime ministers and other high-ranking officials.
Employees from Permanent Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the UN Office in Geneva and other international organizations headed by Vagif Sadigov, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as from the State Committee for Affairs of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons are also represented in the delegation of Azerbaijan.
