From October 16 to October 17, RACHR, in cooperation with the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia, the Red Cross, as well as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, took part in the command and staff exercise “Management of migration flows caused by a catastrophe or hostilities.”
This is the first large-scale exercise in Armenia, in which representatives of a number of departments coordinating issues of protecting the population take part.
In the training scenario, the organizers took into account all migration options, including the entry of terrorists with migrants into the country, as well as the actions of the relevant authorities of Armenia aimed at identifying terrorists.
Management of migration flows in emergency situations is also the creation of temporary accommodation centers for migrants.
The camp was opened near the border crossing point of Bavra and was provided with bedrooms, food, toilets and means of communication. At the same place, a check of migrants’ documents was organized. According to the responsible persons, the biggest problem is the proper organization of affairs, in the first two hours after the arrival of migrants in Armenia, in order to identify all problematic issues.
UN Spokeswoman Anna Karin Ost is sure that during such exercises, the relevant structures should act clearly and understand how they will work in emergency situations. It is important to identify gaps at an early stage and find solutions together.
On the part of the RACHR, the material and technical support of the camp was provided, as well as the provision of a mobile communications center (VHF, video conferencing, satellite communications, UAVs). A video-conference was held with the National Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia, as well as with the National Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, the National Center of the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Center and others. Broadcasting of the video signal from the UAV through all types of communication has been worked out.
