Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijan supports joining effort by CIS countries in resolving migration issues, Presidential Administration official Fuad Alasgarov said Wednesday.

"Coordinated activity of CIS states is important for effective regulation of migration-related developments, i.e. it is pivotal to establish a partnership that would ensure pursuit of an agreed migration policy," Alasgarov told a regular meeting of the heads of CIS migration bodies in Baku.

He noted that Azerbaijan is the first CIS state that faced the problem of refugees and displaced persons, reminding that up to a million Azerbaijanis were ousted from their homes in the aftermath of Armenia’s occupation and ethnic cleansing.

Alasgarov said that economic and social development as well as socio-political stability in Azerbaijan has turned it "from a country generating migrants into a country where migrants come from abroad to work".

He emphasized that the Migration Code – the first such document in CIS countries - was being drafted at the Presidential Administration and the Cabinet of Ministers.

"To my mind, there is no such document in European countries either. This document will make things easier for every person coming to Azerbaijan in terms of legislation. They can also derive the required information from the Code on issues related to ways of coming to Azerbaijan and living here."

Besides Azerbaijan, the meeting of CIS migration officials is attended by delegations from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine and Tajikistan.