Meeting with the delegation of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees was held at State Migration Service

1st deputy chief of State Migration Service, III rank state migration service counselor Vali Naghiyev met with the delegation led by George Okoth-Obbo, Assistant for Operations of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who is on a visit to our country.

V.Naghiyev gave information about SMS at the meeting. He noted the efficient cooperation of Azerbaijan with the UNHCR in the direction of solving problems of refugees and IDPs in the country. Moreover, regular business meetings are held between the Azerbaijan Office of the organization and the Service on determination of refugees, voluntary return of asylum seekers to their country of origin and other topics of interest. Currently “The Asylum Systems Quality Initiative in Eastern Europe and South Caucasus” (ASQIEESC) Project is successfully implemented with the UNHCR. Within the second phase of ASQIEESC Project SMS personnel who are involved in the process of determining refugee status participate in the trainings and workshops organized in the country and abroad. Meetings of Project Executive Board are organized regularly in order to effectively implement the project consisting of the components such as improvement of quality in national asylum systems (identifying gaps and finding their solutions), development of training skills related to asylum issues through the European Asylum Curriculum etc. and to discuss current situation and future plans.

During the meeting held in the atmosphere of reciprocal opinion exchange, the issues related with subsidiary protection of refugees were mentioned. Discussions were conducted on integration of refugees.

Mr. George Okoth-Obbo stated that the purpose of his visit is to get acquainted with the activity of Azerbaijan Office of the UNHCR and the works done in the country to solve social problems of refugees, IDPs and persons intending to obtain refugee status (asylum seekers), as well as to carry out opinion exchange with the government officials on joint efforts to address displacement problem at global and regional level. He expressed his gratitude for the meeting at SMS, highlighted the perspectives of bilateral relations and mentioned the importance of the discussed topics.

The meeting is also attended by deputy director of the UNHCR Regional Bureau for Europe, the UNHCR Representative in Azerbaijan Furio De Angelis and other officials of the agency.