DUSHANBE, October 5, 2011, Asia-Plus — Mr. Saber Azam, UNHCR Regional Representative/Regional Coordinator for Central Asia arrived in Dushanbe on October 3 on a five-day working visit, marked a new stage of fruitful cooperation with the Government of Tajikistan, UNHCR CO in Tajikistan reports.
In this year of commemorations for UNHCR, Mr. Azam’s mission was aimed at strengthening further the relationship of UNHCR with the Tajik authorities and discussing new areas of cooperation.
Within the framework of his visit, Mr. Azam has already met with President’s Executive Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Interior, Chairperson of the State Committee on National Security, and numerous representatives of the diplomatic community in Dushanbe. During the meetings with the Government, UNHCR Regional Representative/Regional Coordinator discussed issues related to protection of refugees and asylum seekers, emergency preparedness and response, prevention and reduction of statelessness as well as regional challenges.
2011 is a prominent year for UNHCR, marking 60th anniversary of the 1951 Convention related to the Status of Refugees and the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Convention on Reduction of Statelessness. It gives UNHCR an opportunity to advocate for compliance of national legislations with international standards and for solving legal, social and economic problems of persons of concern to the Agency.
Currently there are over 43 million persons of concern to UNHCR (asylum seekers, refugees, internally displaced persons and stateless persons or those at risk of statelessness) world wide. Meaningful protection and assistance to these individuals constitute extraordinary challenge for governments. Mr. Azam assured the highest authorities of Tajikistan of UNHCR’s full commitment to assist the Government by all means to overcome such challenges.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan for the very fruitful discussions. Tajikistan is one of the most important partners of UNHCR in Central Asia. We have an extra ordinary record of excellent cooperation since 1993 and as a result of my discussion, I am confident that such excellent spirit of cooperation and mutual understanding and respect will continue in the future. UNHCR is pleased to notice that the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan is committed to comply with international standards. We are ready to support the efforts of the authorities in all areas related to its mandate” – underlined Mr. Saber Azam, UNHCR Regional Representative/Regional Coordinator for Central Asia.
In Tajikistan, UNHCR opened its office in 1993 following the invitation of the Government to assist the country with the emergency relief-related activities aimed at helping internally displaced persons and refugees.
Main UNHCR objectives in Tajikistan are: support the Government in developing a proper asylum regime, in line with the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugee, following the transfer of the asylum issues from the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection to the Ministry of Internal Affairs; amend the implementing legislation and resolutions to bring them to internationally recognized standards; pursue durable solutions, in particular to create conditions for local integration and facilitate self-reliance of refugees; lobby for the accession of Tajikistan to the international statelessness instruments and provide support to stateless persons in finding permanent solutions; cooperate with Tajik authorities in border monitoring and border management; play an active role in the REACT disaster reduction and recovery mechanisms; continue efforts to improve the social and economic well being of persons of concern; and continue to support human rights activities to ensure that refugee issues are part of the general human rights agenda of the country.
