The High Commissioner signed an agreement to open an official representation in Geneva on Tuesday.
"There is particular need for the international community to address the problem", said William Clarence, the regional representative for the UNHCR who has been working in Moscow since January.
There are over 400, 000 refugees in Russia, of which two-thirds come from Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia, Itar-Tass reported Tatayana Regent, head of the Russian Federal Migration Service as saying last week.
Clarence said he was working with government officials to better understand what needs to be done to provide appropriate technical assistance throughout the former Soviet Union.
The office is staffed with three people representing the United Nations.
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