VITEBSK, 13 December (BelTA) - Belarus provides a strong social support for vulnerable categories of the population including refugees, Sholeh Safavi, UNHCR Representative in Belarus, told reporters. Ms Sholeh Safavi is attending a roundtable “Integration of Refugees in the Republic of Belarus: Employment and Social Security”. “Belarusian refugee laws meet international norms as well as the level of social and economic development in the country,” she said. Refugees have access, on an equal basis with citizens of Belarus, to education, health; large families are eligible for social housing. Refugees may be put on record in the employment services and are provided jobs through public employment service. They can even get a grant to start their own business,” said the UNHCR representative. However, for the integration of refugees in Belarus they need extra help. In particular this applies to the language barrier and employment. “After the language barrier, the employment is the second most important element of the integration into a society,” Sholeh Safavi stressed. The roundtable was dedicated to these problems. It was hosted by the department for labor, employment and social security of the Vitebsk City Hall as part of the project “Integration of Refugees in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine (Phase I)”, funded by the European Union and implemented by the UNHCR in collaboration with national partners - government and public organizations. The project aims at assisting the governments of Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine in fulfilling their obligations under the Convention on the Status of Refugees of 1951 by strengthening their capacity for international protection and improving the prospects for integration of refugees in the three countries. Attending the seminar were representatives of national and regional government bodies, public organizations dealing with problems of integration of refugees in Belarus, as well as refugees. The organizers of the seminar were the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees in Belarus, the Committee on Labor, Employment and Social Security, Citizenship and Migration Directorate of the Interior Department of the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee, the Vitebsk Office of the Belarusian Red Cross Society.

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