Dmitriy Kobitskiy met with Head of UNHCR Office in Russia Arman Harutyunyan

Secretary General of the Council of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly Dmitriy Kobitskiy met with Head of the Representative Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the Russian Federation Arman Harutyunyan. The parties discussed the implementation of joint projects and other issues of mutual interest.

Dmitriy Kobitskiy noted the long-term cooperation between the IPA CIS and the UNHCR, which began long before the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in 2019. He underlined the importance of mutual participation in events and expert assessment of model laws carried out by the staff of the Representative Office within the framework of its mandate.

UNHCR staff made a significant contribution to the preparation of the Model Migration Code and the Model Law on Refugees, and also provided important suggestions and comments on Recommendations on the Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking and on the Legal Regulation of Migration Processes During Pandemics.

Dmitriy Kobitskiy expressed hope that the assessments of UNHCR experts would help in the preparation of a new version of the Concept of the Common Migration Area of the the CIS Member Nations. He invited Arman Harutyunyan, who participated in the working group on the preparation of the document, to participate in the IX St Petersburg Labour Forum, which will be held at the Tavricheskiy Palace on 2 April.

He also stressed the importance of preparing a joint declaration on statelessness.

Arman Harutyunyan highly appreciated the potential of the IPA CIS platform for exchange of experience on integration issues in the broadest sense of the word and expressed readiness for further fruitful cooperation with the IPA CIS.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat Alexey Dolzhikov, Head of the Expert and Analytical Department of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat Denis Zhuk, Secretary of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Social Policy and Human Rights, Executive Secretary of the IPA CIS Expert Advisory Board on Public Health Evgenia Vladimirova and Head of the Department for International Relations of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat, Secretary of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Political Issues and International Cooperation Maksimillian Selyutin.