No:405/21, Information of the Press Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the meeting of Minister Jeyhun Bayramov with Angela Li Rosi, Deputy Director of Regional Bureau for Europe at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
On October 29, 2021, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov received a delegation led by Angela Li Rosi, Deputy Director of Regional Bureau for Europe at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The meeting was also attended by Assistant to the First Vice President Elchin Amirbayov. During the meeting, the results of the UNHCR mission led by A. Li Rosi to the liberated territories of Azerbaijan on October 24-29, 2021, were discussed.
A. Li Rosi thanked Azerbaijan for its support and high-level cooperation with the UNHCR. She said the purpose of the visit was to discuss the conditions and prospects for the return of IDPs and refugees, as well as specific aspects of the proposed role of the UNHCR in the trilateral statement signed in November 2020. Noting that the mission visited Aghdam, Tartar, Barda, Fuzuli, Jabrayil and Zangilan and saw with their own eyes the scale of the task facing Azerbaijan in restoring these areas, A. Li Rosi praised the government's rapid restoration work, despite the high level of landmine contamination.
Minister Jeyhun Bayramov informed the guests about the large-scale problem of IDPs that arose in the country as a result of the military aggression of Armenia, as well as about the work done in the field of solving the social problems of IDPs in Azerbaijan, which occupies one of the first places in the world in terms of the number of IDPs per capita. Speaking about the conditions created for the activities of humanitarian organizations in our country, the Minister stressed that Azerbaijan attaches importance to cooperation with the UNHCR, and did not forget the assistance provided by this organization to refugees and internally displaced persons in the 1990s. Informing the guests about the threat of landmines in the liberated territories, Jeyhun Bayramov noted that since November last year, 167 people have become victims of landmines in Azerbaijan, including IDPs looking forward to seeing their homeland, and that the transfer of mine maps by Armenia to Azerbaijan is very important for the safe return of IDPs.
The sides discussed the steps taken by the Azerbaijani government to restore the liberated territories, the rapid restoration of roads, railways and infrastructure, the reconstruction of villages based on the "smart village" model and the construction of international airport in Fuzuli in the shortest possible time, as well as expressed mutual interest in continuing cooperation to ensure a dignified and safe return of IDPs to their native lands.