Friday, 6 June 2008
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received the representatives of organizations - members of "Refugees and international law" civil society network, which represents the interests of Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan, as well as the members of the Refugee Delegates Council operational by the network. The meeting was also attended by Arman Melikyan who is well informed on refugee issues and is actively engaged in these activities.
According to the members of Refugee Delegates Council, the meeting with the Prime Minister was initiated with a view to presenting refugee problems to the head of the Government and discussing the possibility of involving the organizations - members of the civil society network and the Council in the preparation and realization of various State programs aimed at the decision of refugee problems. The "Refugees and international law" civil society network, founded in Yerevan in 2006, brings together those organizations dealing with refugee problems in order to unite their efforts for better representation of their claims to Azerbaijan concerning the compensation of material and psychological damages incurred by the Armenians as a result of the actions committed by the authorities and criminal elements in Azerbaijan. The Refugee Delegates Council has been created with the purpose of tackling the complex of social, economic, educational and other problems facing the Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan who are residents of Armenia.
Taking note of the concerns and proposals submitted by the members of Refugee Delegates Council covering the State
's more proactive stance as to the protection of refugee rights within the international judicial authorities and the tackling of issues related with employment, education and social security of the Armenian refugees, Tigran Sargsyan assured that the government will take into account these concerns and will place them high on the government's agenda. At the same time, the Prime Minister presented to the meeting participants those social and economic problems facing our State and stressed that poverty reduction, disaster zone residents' housing problems and other major issues are seen as a priority in the Government Program.The representatives of organizations - members of "Refugees and international law" civil society network and the members of the Refugee Delegates Council thanked the Prime Minister for his thoughtfulness and ability of finding systemic solutions to their problems, as well as for his willingness to take into account the potential of these organizations during development of the state programs.
