Deputy Foreign Minister Leopoldo Sahores received the Regional Representative for South America of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Karmen Issam Sakhir, and the Deputy Regional Representative, Claudia Rodríguez Sirtori.
Sahores reaffirmed that the protection of refugees is a matter of priority for the Argentine Republic and a State policy reflected in our entire legal system that has remained unchanged since the advent of democracy in 1983.
Furthermore, he pointed out that our country has been accompanying all the initiatives developed at global and regional level in matters of human rights, international humanitarian law and international refugee law, with the aim of maintaining the highest standards that make Argentina a reference in the region.
The Regional Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reiterated her willingness to cooperate with Argentina to seek and ensure protection and durable solutions to refugees, stateless people and displaced persons with protection needs, always taking into account the experiences acquired by our country.
The UNHCR is the United Nations Refugee Agency, and its mission is to ensure that everyone has the right to seek asylum and find protection after fleeing violence, war and persecution in their country. According to the agency's estimates, there are currently about 108 million forcibly displaced people in the world.