Azerbaijani refugees remain overlooked by international community

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

A considerable number of people throughout the world live in very difficult conditions, on others’ land, in camps, in need and under constant threat – such is the life of refugees and internally displaced people.

Though many countries around the world have reached a high level of living standards, the number of the people with such bitter fate is now nearing 60 million.

Azerbaijani refugees represent more than one million out of 60 total million refugees and IDPs worldwide.

Each year, June 20 is commemorated as World Refugee Day. The UN Refugee Agency report, issued on June 18, showed that displacement from wars, conflict, and persecution worldwide is at the highest levels in recorded history and growing fast.

Azerbaijan, which has been locked in a conflict that emerged over Armenia's groundless territorial claims against the country in late 1980s, is one of the numerous countries that has been burdened with the problem of refugees and internally displaced peoples .

Every 8th citizen in Azerbaijan is a refugee as a result of the Armenian aggression. Out of more than nine million population, 1.2 million are refugees and IDPs in their native land.

The Azerbaijanis who were displaced from their homes as result of the brutal war were forced to live in refugee camps, tents, in very difficult conditions. They also lost all of their properties.

“Over 20 years, we’re living the life of the internally displaced persons. We had to flee our homes in 1993 after occupation of part of Fuzuli region. In order to escape Armenian aggression we passed through Iranian territory as the region was in Armenian blockade. Then we came to one of the Azerbaijani regions. After some time, we moved to Baku and settled in one of the dormitories. We lost all of our property and belongings. Despite government’s help, we still live in a difficult situation in the dormitory,” said Saida Garayeva, IDP from Fuzuli region.

Armenia's territorial claims in the late 1980s and the ensuing military aggression resulted in the occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and along with the seven surrounding regions. Over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs in the aftermath of the brutal 1990s war fought between the two South Caucasus republics.

The figure was one million in 1992-1993, but over the past 20 years, it has increased according to the natural growth rate of the country's population.

In Nagorno-Karabakh, the adjacent regions, and the regions bordering Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, about 700,000 people were deprived of their places of residence and turned into IDPs. They are temporarily settled in 62 cities and regions of Azerbaijan in more than 1,600 densely populated areas.

Also, one must not forget the deportation of the Azerbaijani people from Armenia. For many years, Armenia committed an ethnic cleansing policy against Azerbaijanis. From 1948 to 1952, 150,000 Azerbaijanis were forced to leave their homes, according to data by the Azerbaijani State Committee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons.

Moreover, 250,000 Azerbaijanis were expelled from their native lands and became refugees as a result of the latest ethnic cleansing perpetrated against Azerbaijanis in the territory of Armenia in 1988-1992.

The refugees and IDPs said they had experienced great difficulties after being expelled from their native lands losing everything they owned.

“The world community should know about it. This is unfair. Our lands have remained there, while we're here,” said Gudrat Huseynov, IDP from occupied Khojavand region.

“Though our living conditions here are good, the graves of our ancestors remain there. We want to visit them. All conditions have been created for us here, but our homeland is there,” IDP Saida Hajiyeva said.

The Azerbaijani government made the refugee and IDP problem its highest priority and pays enormous attention to improve living conditions of Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs.

Currently, the Azerbaijani government successfully implements a program on improving the living conditions of refugees and IDPs and on increasing employment.

The people who held refugee status were granted compensations and benefits. Extensive measures were launched to ensure social protection of the refugees since Azerbaijan's oil strategy began to bear fruit.

The government allocated 630 million manats to address the social problems of refugees and IDPs only in 2014. The amount of funds spent per displaced person was about 1170 manats. That is the highest per capita rate compared to all conflict zones around the world. The poverty level among the IDPs has sharply decreased, dropping to 15 percent from 75 percent in the last 10 years.

Despite all the measures taken by the government, the people who had to leave their native lands and live the lives of refugees and IDPs live with a desire to return home and are waiting for the conflict to be resolved soon.

However, the international community turns a blind eye to injustice towards the Azerbaijani people and to the violation of their rights, while failing to take action against Armenia to facilitate a settlement of the conflict.