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Latvia granted refugee status to four Azerbaijanis last year

01 February 2008 09:00 (UTC +04:00)

Press secretary of Latviaâ€™s Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs Diana Bogdanova said that citizens from 17 countries wanted to get refugee status in Latvia. Bogdanova said Azerbaijan was among these countries. Representative of consular office of Azerbaijani embassy in Latvia Nadir Zulfugarov told APA that though the embassy appealed to the relevant bodies of Latvia concerning it, the bodies refused to give information about the persons, who were granted refugee status, grounding on the international contracts undertaken by the country.
The person, who wants to get refugee status in Latvia, applies to the State Border Service on border checkpoint. The status is granted to the persons, who present irrefutable evidences on racial, religious, national, political and social persecution.
According to Nadir Zulfugarov, Latviaâ€™s migration bodies have not specified information with the embassy while granting refugee status to Azerbaijani citizens.
According to the international practice, political situation, attitude towards national minorities, state of freedom of religion in the country, where the person whishing to get refugee status comes from, is learned through the diplomatic mission in the country.
Asked whether Latviaâ€™s migration bodies received appropriate information about the situation in Azerbaijan, Latvian embassy in Azerbaijan refused to answer. /APA/