Monday, 22 November 2004
Today RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan has had a meeting with Mr. Ruud Lubbers, UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The Prime Minister was highly appreciative of the 12-years-old cooperation between the Armenian government and the UNHCR Armenia office. According to the Prime Minister, due to the invaluable assistance received from the United Nations, a considerable amount of work had been done to address the problems facing refugees in Armenia. In particular, since mid-nineties', when it became clear that the return of the refugees from Azerbaijan to their previous places of residence was impossible for the lack of proper security guarantees, the government of Armenia had initiated a policy of re-integration with regard to the refugees. This policy was activated and streamlined in 1999 with the establishment of a separate entity in charge of refugee problems - Migration and Refugee Department under the Government of the Republic of Armenia. A broad range of legal acts in support of the legal framework of this field were passed in the given period and a shift was operated towards the practice of giving comprehensive and radical solutions to the existing bottlenecks. The head of the government mentioned that over 67 000 refugees from Azerbaijan had been granted Armenian citizenship in the period under review and this process was going to be continued in future. More than 300 residential houses were built or renovated, micro-lending programs were implemented, as well as schools and other vital institutions were rehabilitated under this program. Mr. Margaryan informed the guest that the solution of social-economic and housing problems of refugees was included in the strategic paper of poverty reduction, in the program of medium-term public expenditure and in the priority action plan for providing housing to refugees from Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, the Armenian government was short of the resources necessary for meeting the current challenges which were aggravated by the considerable amount of homeless people and shelters destroyed by the 1988 earthquake, as well as the heavy burden of the problems facing those persons displaced from the border settlements of Azerbaijan.
Mr. Margaryan noted that the latest census of refugees living in Armenia was carried out in 1997 and the number of 311 000 was recorded. Though, considering the recent developments in this area, this figure was to be updated necessitating a program for refugee registration. The Prime Minister said that the Armenian government was looking forward to UNHCR's assistance in this matter.
Mr. Ruud Lubbers expressed his appreciation of the government-led refugee re-integration policy and the approaches towards addressing their social problems. He said to be prepared to continue cooperating with the Armenian executive by stressing that the UN's mediation efforts within the international donor community would be facilitated if the government reviewed the refugee problems in the overall context of poverty reduction. Mr. Lubbers, too, emphasized the need in refugee registration which would help make the assistance more targeted. He noted that he was going to table a similar suggestion before the Azerbaijani authorities.
In closing, the two sides reiterated their readiness of making joint efforts to address the complex of existing problems.
