Vincent Cochetel is a French official for the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

(UNHCR) since 1986. As of 2016 he heads the European office of the organization. Previously, leading the organization's office in

North Ossetia North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, he was kidnapped in January 1998 and held hostage until December the same year. Obtaining a law degree from the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

, Cochetel subsequently worked for the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

and the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...

before joining the UNHCR. He worked in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, Western Africa and

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

.C
Vincent Cochetel

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...

. Retrieved 3 April 2016 As a UNHCR official in North Ossetia, he was kidnapped by three armed men in Vladikavkaz on 29 January 1998.Freed U.N. Worker Describes 317-Day Chechnya Abduction
''New York Times''. 22 December 1998 During the time of his imprisonment he was mostly in a cave, tied to his bed with one hand, received little food, and got about 20 minutes of light every day. He was subject to interrogation and violence during the first days of captivity. The kidnappers demanded a ransom for Cochetel and negotiated with France and the United Nations, but according to the latter no ransom was ever paid. He was freed by Russian forces in December 1998. He continued his work with UNHCR after his release, from 2002 in Geneva, and from 2005 as deputy director of Division of International Protection Services and Head of the Resettlement Service, before becoming regional ambassador of the UNHCR for the United States and the Caribbean, and later heading the European office. During the

European migration crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and Human migration, migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the cont ...

he served as refugee coordinator for the UNHCR and in that capacity expressed concern that the European agreement with Turkey of March 2016—to return refugees who arrived in Greece to Turkey—violated the ban against mass expulsion in the European Convention of Human Rights.Matthew Holehouse (8 March 2016
EU-Turkey deal on refugees 'would contravene international law'
''The Telegraph''

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cochetel, Vincent 1990s missing person cases Formerly missing people French officials of the United Nations French people taken hostage Kidnapped people Living people Missing person cases in Russia Year of birth missing (living people)

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