Friday, 13 April 2007
Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan received UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons's Rights Walter Kalin.
Considering that Mr. Kalin;s visit to Armenia was the reflection of the attention accorded to the refugees and displaced persons of Armenia, the Prime Minister said that in spite of the fact that their number was great, joint efforts were needed on the part of Armenian and international organizations so as to find concrete decisions of the problems of displaced persons. As he said, the Government of Armenia had designed specific measures for the decision of the problems facing those eight and a half thousand internally displaced persons. Mr. Kalin noted that while the number of internally displaced persons in Armenia was relatively smaller as compared to that of other countries, nevertheless, he deemed it his duty to come and see first-hand the progress made following his predecessor's visit in 2000 especially as he then was welcomed by the Armenian authorities. He emphasized that quite a large amount of work had been done in the meantime with many people having been able to return to border villages or other settlements of Armenia.
At the same time, as he said, a lot of displaced persons still lived in poor conditions. Mr. Kalin noted that he had already held discussions with the Armenian Minister of Territorial Administration regarding the program developed as early as in 2005 which proposed the displaced persons to return to border villages and envisaged the construction of new houses or the rehabilitation of the old ones for them, together with the building of comfortable roads and infrastructures. "This is a good program, and I think it is worth discussing,"- he said and went on to stress that additional efforts were needed to this end. According to him, a comprehensive and final decision of the issue of displaced persons implied the availability of at least two more conditions: the possibility of having control over the economic activity at their place of residence and the security arrangements to take on the sites of return, which in his opinion, still went unsettled. Acknowledging that formerly the international community gave not enough attention to this problem, Mr. Kalin assured that would try to bring the matter to the notice of the international donors.
During the meeting, Mr. Kalin also touched upon the problem of about 3.000 households displaced as a result of the 1988 earthquake. He noted that to some extent they were likewise eligible to get the status of internally displaced persons as they had been displaced under conditions of force majeure. Here he stated that formerly the United Nations used to concentrate upon hostilities-induced incidences of displacement, however, he personally was convinced that those hit by natural disasters or displaced by force majeure deserved as much attention. He further said to be glad that programs were being developed for the earthquake-hit families and expressed readiness to take this question to the attention of eventual donors. He similarly expressed hope that these programs would be realized in the few years ahead and, unlike its immediate neighbors inclusive of Azerbaijan, Armenia would be checked out from the list of countries with internally of displaced persons.
Asked so by Mr. Kalin, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan stated his point of view over the settlement of the Karabakh conflict and the situation with internally displaced persons and refugees. By noting that from the very start of the conflict, the Armenian side tried to address the problems of displaced persons through their social reintegration. He said to be looking forward to Armenia's exclusion from the list of refugee-hosting countries. According to him, the Armenian side would keep on making efforts towards the repatriation and a better life of internally displaced persons.
Answering Mr. Kalin's question, the Prime Minister noted that in the recent period Azerbaijan had given up the policy of speculating over the problems of refugees and internally displaced persons to embark upon the path of their solution with quite important resources spent to that effect, inclusive of the funds received from the international community.
Serzh Sargsyan stressed that Armenia was in favor of an expedited and peaceful resolution of the conflict so as oppositions like these would be ruled out in future. The Prime Minister said to be convinced that there was no alternative to the negotiated resolution of the conflict, and the sooner it is realized in Azerbaijan, the closer the conflicting sides will be to the final decision of the question. Cognizant of the right of Azerbaijani refugees to returning to their places of former residence, the Prime Minister said at the same time that the question called for a very thoughtful and comprehensive approach as it might lead to the resumption of hostilities should the conflicting sides fail to come to a mutually acceptable decision of the issue.
