UN High Commissioner for Refugees starts trip to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today started a six-day visit to the southern Caucasus, an area that is host to over 1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees.

António Guterres will be meeting with senior government officials, IDPs and refugees during his visits to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, the agency announced today.

“The mission will focus on strengthening UNHCR’s supportive role in ongoing conflict resolution efforts and political dialogue in the region” where the agency spends $9.4 million annually, spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis told a briefing in Geneva.

Displacement in the southern Caucasus region is the result of protracted conflicts, and Ms. Pagonis pointed out that “peaceful settlements and stability would allow refugees and internally displaced people to return and reintegrate.” In Azerbaijan and Armenia the displacement is linked to a 15 year unsettled dispute and the future status of the Nagorno Karabakh region. In Georgia, UNHCR is part of two parallel peace processes currently under way in South Ossetia and in Abkhazia.

“UNHCR is ready to be actively involved in the peace process and develop, together with the concerned governments, a framework plan for the return in the event of a settlement,” Ms. Pagonis said.