UNHCR PRAISES ARMENIA FOR ITS REFUGEE-RELATED POLICIES
By Anna Saghabalian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug. 21, 2006
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has praised
the efforts of the Armenian government to create conditions that
promote the integration of refugees into society.
Antonio Gutierrez, paying his first visit to the region, reiterated
on Monday that granting citizenship is the best tool for protecting
refugees if the ultimate goal of the government is to ensure their
full integration into society.
"I hope it is the ultimate goal both in Armenia and Azerbaijan,"
he told a press conference in Yerevan.
Gutierrez stressed the high level of his agency’s cooperation with
Armenia and expressed his particular satisfaction with the efforts of
the country’s authorities to create a legislative and institutional
framework for immigrants and asylum-seekers, extending special thanks
to the Armenian government for accepting refugees from Lebanon.
For his part, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said that
the UNHCR Office has worked in Armenia for years and has been a great
help to the Armenian government to solve different problems connected
with refugees.
"Although we are a non-political agency, we are extremely interested
in the peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict," Gutierrez said.
"We think that the agreements that will allow displaced people to
return to the places of their former residence can become an element
of mutual trust that in turn can promote an ultimate solution to the
problem in the future."
Regarding the possibility of refugees recovering their lost property
or getting compensation for that, Gutierrez said: "We think that
one of the positive things of the peaceful solution could be the
restoration of property rights on both sides. If we speak about the
return of refugees, it could be the restoration of their ownership
rights. If the return is not on the cards, then it can be solved
through compensation."
Gutierrez denied the recent Azeri press reports that quoted him as
calling the policy of the Armenian government related to refugees
a failure.
He also denied having made a series of other statements that appeared
in the Azeri press and were ascribed to him.
In particular, the Azeri media quoted Gutierrez as saying that the
situation with forcibly displaced people in Azerbaijan was the gravest
in the world.
"I couldn’t have said such a thing, as it is a common knowledge that
this problem is much bigger in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan or Colombia
than in Azerbaijan," he said.
Gutierrez said that instead of the word ‘excellent’ he used the
expression ‘more mature’ to describe the UNCHR’s relations with
Azerbaijan and stressed that he was "careful enough never to use the
word ‘Armenia’ in his press conference in Baku.
To a reporter’s question to share his impressions of the refugee
camps in Azerbaijan, Gutierrez said: "The only thing that I can tell
you is that necessary investments are being made in Azerbaijan to
create new homes for refugees. There are still people who live in
very poor conditions in both countries, but I can say for Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia that the governments in these countries take
very seriously the necessity of improving the situation of refugees
living in extreme conditions."