UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES STARTS TRIP TO AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA, ARMENIA

UN News Centre
Aug. 15, 2006

UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres
15 August 2006 – 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.

Antonio 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.