Press Releases

UNHCR congratulated cadet winners of international law contest

Bishkek, 19 June 2012 - On 19 June Johann Siffointe, UNHCR Representative in the Kyrgyz Republic participated in a commencement ceremony of cadets of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Academy. On this occasion, Johann Siffointe congratulated the cadet team who last week won second place in the New Horizon international refugee law contest in Minsk, Belarus, 13-14 June 2012.

The competition was organized by the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affair's Academy with the support of UNHCR, to improve awareness of the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers among public servants. It was timed to coincide with the World Refugee Day celebrations on 20 June.

The UNHCR office in Kyrgyzstan enabled the Kyrgyz team to participate and compete against teams from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine. "We hope that this great success will strengthen the Ministry of Internal Affairs in its mission of serving the most vulnerable people in society - refugees," said Johann Siffointe at the awarding ceremony.

The contest has been organized since 2007 and aims to not only teach police cadets but also to grant talented young professionals an opportunity to show their creative legal abilities and to discuss refugee issues with like-minded persons and peers abroad.

The 20th June is World Refugee Day and the awarding of the cadets was part of UNHCR's nationwide celebrations of World Refugee week. - Since 2001, World Refugee Day has been remembered to raise awareness of the situation of refugees across the globe.