The delegation of Azerbaijan paying an official visit to Geneva met with Director General of the International Organization for Migration

Delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ali Hasanov, whereChief of the State Migration Service Firudin Nabiyev was also included, metwith Director General of the International Organization for Migration William Lacy Swing at the headquartersof the organization in Geneva.

At the meeting thehigh level of cooperation between IOM and Azerbaijan in the field of migration was mentioned with satisfaction.

Deputy Prime Minister stressed the special attention attached to migration field in our country and noted the activity of the State Migration Service which was established in order to regulate migration processes. The refugee problem that Azerbaijan faced, the non-implementation of relevant resolutions of UN and other organizations yet, the issue of occupation of Azerbaijan territories were brought into attention by him. He mentioned that European countries which have 550 million population are helpless before600-700 thousand refugee problem. But as a result of proper and humanist policy of the state leadership, Azerbaijan which has 9.6 million population overcomes problems regarding 1.2 million refugees and IDPs for decades.

Highly appreciating the activity of IOM’s office in Baku, Ali Hasanov noted that our country is open to new projects in the context of improving cooperation with this organization.

Deputy Prime Minister stated that as a result of rapid development of Azerbaijan our country has become a destination country for migrants, and though the migrant flow is gradually increasingthese processes are properly regulated. He noted that there is a need to develop cooperation with IOM taking into consideration the possibility of increase of migrant flow in the future.

William Lacy Swing recalled with satisfaction his visit to Azerbaijan on September 2-3 of this year and meeting with President Ilham Aliyev, asked to convey his sincere greetings to the head of the country. He welcomed measures on regulation in the field of migration, establishment of State Migration Service and activity in this field. The Director General appreciated the condition created for refugees and IDPs under the supervision of the Azerbaijan President and thanked to state leadership for that. He expressed hope that his visit to our country will make new contributions to development of cooperation between the international organization and Azerbaijan. William Lacy Swing stated that Azerbaijan managed to establish unified system in the field of migration that many countries could not achieve and thus our country can be an example for many countries.

Stressing the importance of cooperation between IOM and relevant state entities of our country the Director General also suggested implementation of cooperation between the organization and Azerbaijan International Development Agency (AIDA).