Belarus’ Permanent Representative to UN Office in Geneva met with UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Larysa Belskaya, the Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN Office and other international organisations in Geneva, has met with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi – as reported in the Belarusian Foreign Ministry’s press service
The two sides noted with satisfaction the long-term constructive and fruitful nature of co-operation between Belarus and the UNHCR, discussing possible directions for its development in the conditions of the largest refugee crisis in Europe and a significant increase in the number of requests for refugee status or temporary protection in our country.
Grandi confirmed UNHCR’s readiness to expand liaisons with Belarus on a wide range of topical issues and to support the efforts of the Belarusian authorities to ensure the proper reception and integration of refugees. He thanked for the support that Belarus provides to Ukrainian refugees.
During the conversation, special attention was paid to priority areas of collaboration for Belarus, including strengthening the potential of Belarusian specialised services in the field of migration and refugees; improvement of the current system of control over access to the state procedure for obtaining refugee status; improvement of the automated system of registration of asylum seekers in our country, as well as adaptation of the database of their countries of origin. The parties expressed mutual interest in the renewal of the UNHCR educational project for representatives of law enforcement agencies on the basis of the International Training Centre on Migration and Countering Human Trafficking in Minsk.
The Belarusian diplomat and the UN High Commissioner noted the coincidence of approaches to the protection of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, including the situation on the border of Belarus with the EU states. They underlined the counterproductive and discriminatory nature of building walls, denying refugees and asylum seekers access to the territory, as well as the inadmissibility of ill-treatment and forced expulsion of such people.
The two sides stressed the importance of resuming civilised cross-border co-operation and co-ordinated efforts to find effective solutions to the refugee problem and saving their lives as a priority.
