Internally Displaced: Secretary-General Representative returns to Azerbaijan

GENEVA (18 May 2010) – The Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Walter Kaelin, will carry out a follow-up visit to Azerbaijan from 19 to 24 May 2010. He last conducted a mission to that country in April 2007.*

“I will look into the situation and protection and assistance needs of internally displaced persons, as well as developments in this regard since my last visit 3 years ago,” Mr. Kaelin said. At the time, the independent expert stressed the importance of continued Government support, and encouraged the authorities to strengthen and expand programs to increase the self-sufficiency of the displaced, and to give them a real chance of becoming active and productive members of society again.

Mr. Kaelin will meet with Government representatives, UN officials, and members of civil society and the international community. During his mission, he will also visit various sites of displacement and meet with displaced persons.

The Representative will present preliminary observations at a press conference in Baku on 24 May 2010. His report will be presented to the Human Rights Council in March 2011.

Walter Kaelin, professor of law at the University of Bern (Switzerland), has been the Representative of the Secretary General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons since 2004.

(*): Check the Representative’s report on Azerbaijan to the Human Rights Council: http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G08/129/85/PDF/G0812985.pdf?OpenElement