Umud Mirzayev, chairman of the International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF), represented Azerbaijan in the council meeting of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE). The event, called "Refugees and asylum seekers' rights and interests" took place in Brussels. The meeting brought together members of several organizations representing various countries.
Addressing the event, IEPF Chairman hailed the ECRE's decisions on migration and deportation issues in Europe. He added that the decisions made on refugees and asylum seekers should not be considered as a matter of Europe.
"This is not only an internal issue of Europe. These issues should be taken into consideration in Europe in the context of the countries in which the migration takes place. Migration issues should be studied seriously and the necessary measures should be taken to prevent it."
Touching upon problems of migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, U. Mirzayev said that they experience difficulties in returning to their native lands.
He called on ECRE to express its attitude to the problems of people who became refugees and IDPs as a result of the Armenian aggression.
Highlighting President Ilham Aliyev’s decree on restoration of Jojug Marjanli village of Jabrail region, U. Mirzayev said that this was a great support for the villagers living in different places to return their homes.
“The main point is that it ended to hopelessness of people going back to their occupied regions. This is an issue related to one village. I think that ECRE should be sensitive on such issues and take serious position in large context, and should always prevail the principles of international law, peace and justice", - the IEPF Chairman noted.
U. Mirzayev said that the ECRE must increase its efforts to raise awareness of the international community on refugee issues.
Other speakers, including, Vollads Zahle, ECRE's General Coordinator on communications, Leonie Jegen, the organization's deputy Director General, Annemiek Bots, co-chairman of Netherlands’s Refugees Council, supported the views of the IEPF Chairman. They also emphasized the role of media to highlight problems of refugees and asylum seekers.
On the sidelines of the event, Anastasia Lavrina, Assitant to IEPF Chairman, made a presentation on Eurasia Diary International Analytical Gateway, initiated by the IEPF, which is functioning in five languages. She said that one of the directions of Eurasia Diary’s strategy is to deliver refugees’ problems to a wide range of readers.