On December 27, 2011 the awarding ceremony for the winners of the contest of the works of students, candidates for a master's degree, post-graduate students “Solution of the problems of refugees and stateless persons: Belarusian and international experience” was held.
The contest was organised in September—November 2011 by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and International Non-governmental Association for Scientific Research, Information and Educational Programmes “Evolutio”.
The Representative of UNHCR Office in the Republic of Belarus Sholeh Safavi, members of INA “Evolutio”, journalists and the very winners of the contest from different regions of the country were present at the event.
The event was opened by the Executive Director of INA “Evolutio” Andrey Selivanov. He expressed his gratitude to the winners, noticing that this contest has already become a good annual tradition. In 2011 more works were sent to the contest than it was previous year. Moreover, on behalf of the jury of the contest A. Selivanov said that the quality of the works has also improved, particularly the quality of the winners` works. He also stressed that in 2011 representatives from regional universities took part more actively. Herewith almost all the regions were on the list of the winners. This has happened due to the informational and educational efforts of the INA “Evolutio” on the topic of refugees with the assistance of UNHCR.
Then Sholeh Safavi gave her speech. She emphasized the importance of the migration issues in the world, and in particular, the need for legal protection of forcibly displaced and stateless persons. Due to such kind of contests and events people`s awareness in this topic is increasing, new problems are raised and their solutions are being pondered on. Also the Representative of the UNHCR Office in the Republic of Belarus focused on the problem that illegal migration usually has negative impact on refugees`, forcibly displaced persons` and stateless persons` image all over the world. Unfortunately, very often there are different stereotypes among people, which can be obstacles for people demanding protection and security. And many politicians masterfully use it in their electioneering. According to the speech made by the High Commissioner on Refugees António Guterres in Geneva, such terms as “refugee”, “stateless persons” etc. are often used incorrectly in the world politics. He called countries and politicians for avoiding statements related to the negative impact of migrants on the internal stability of a country. Sholeh Safavi also acknowledged the merits of Belarus in developing the legislative system for refugees and stateless persons and creating conditions for them to live in. Today on the territory of Belarus many governmental institutions establish special courses to prepare the necessary personnel to work in this sphere. Accordingly, contribution and interest of young specialists once again underline the topicality of these issues and help to improve the situation in this area.
The event ended with awarding the winners of the contest.
The photos from the event — wait soon.
