Armenia sheltered around 20.000 Syrian refugees: Minister

PanARMENIAN.Net - Foreign Minister Edward ‪Nalbandian met Monday, February 29 with the UN‬ High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein‪ in Geneva.

Welcoming the foreign policy chief, the High Commissioner hailed Armenia’s strong stance and continuous efforts in prevention of new acts of genocide, stressing that the international community is more decisively struggling for the prevention of crimes against humanity. In this context, Nalbandian said that “Armenia as a nation, which survived the first genocide of the 20th century, feels obliged to take steps to rule out the occurrence of new crimes against humanity.”

During the meeting, issues concerning the human rights situation in the Middle East and steps to resolve them were discussed.

According to Nalbandian, Armenia has sheltered around 20.000 Syrian refugees.

Also, the parties dwelled upon human rights protection in Armenia, with Nalbandian citing effective cooperation between the country and international human rights organizations.

At the end of the meeting, the Foreign Minister briefed the UN official on Armenia and the OSCE Mission’s efforts towards a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.