Azerbaijan: New Setbacks for Refugees
More than a decade after they were displaced from homes in Nagorny Karabakh and Armenia, refugees finally swap tents for homes, only to encounter new problems.
Azerbaijan: New Setbacks for Refugees
More than a decade after they were displaced from homes in Nagorny Karabakh and Armenia, refugees finally swap tents for homes, only to encounter new problems.
As the Azerbaijani government completes the process of shifting thousands of refugees and internally displaced people from tent camps to newly-built settlements, many complain that their new living conditions are grossly inadequate.
From a distance, the purpose-built settlements of Alibeyli-1 and Alibeyli-2 in the Aghdam district of western Azerbaijan look promising, with houses painted pink and lampposts lining an earth road.
However, first impressions can be deceptive. The people who have moved in here complain of damp walls, peeling plaster and unpainted ceilings. There is not a single tree in the entire settlement.
In the Nineties, Azerbaijan had one of the highest refugee populations in the world, with more than a half million internally displaced people, IDPs, from the conflict in Karabakh joining more than 200,000 Azerbaijanis who had earlier fled from Soviet Armenia.
For years, tens of thousands of them lived in tent camps, but these have been gradually closed. In 2001, former president Heidar Aliev signed a decree allocating 359 billion manats, around 81 million US dollars at the time, from the State Oil Fund to build housing for refugees and IDPs. According to the oil fund’s official reports, more than 900 billion manats, over 200 million dollars, have been earmarked since 2001 to provide these homes.
In early August, Ali Hasanov, the head of the state committee for refugees and IDP affairs, said the programme to dismantle all tent camps would be completed by the end of this year. He said the new settlements built for the displaced people were completely fit for habitation.
Yet, despite the large funds being spent, many refugees say no proper planning has gone into the new settlements.
Mehbali Kerimov, originally from the town of Aghdam, now under Armenian occupation, told IWPR, “When moving to this settlement [Alibeyli-1], I had to sell all my livestock. They built four walls in a total desert and forced us to move in here. They’ve given us no land, no financial assistance, and no jobs for us to earn a living.”
Kerimov tried to complain to President Ilham Aliev himself when he was visiting a neighbouring refugee settlement. However, as he attempted to approach the president, security men seized him and locked him up in the police station, where he stayed until Aliev left.
Chaman Mukhtarova, the headmistress of Alibeyli-1’s school, said the village had no sanitation, and her school did not have a gymnasium.
“They’ve built a medical centre, but it has neither water nor electricity. What’s more, it has no doctor,” said resident Sadagat Hasanova. “It’s been almost a year since we moved here, and never a once have we been given medical assistance. Pregnant women have no choice but to give birth at home, there aren’t even any medicines to relieve their pain.”
Another new settlement, the village of Ergi lies very close to the Armenian-Azerbaijani ceasefire line. The road leading to Ergi is not easily passable by offroad vehicles, let alone ordinary cars, and with no telephone lines, there is a sense of isolation from the outside world.
To get water, the refugees have to queue up at outside standpipes, one for every four houses. The village school needs major repairs, even though it was only built four years ago, while the yard of the medical centre is so overgrown that it’s difficult to imagine that the place is ever visited by doctors or patients.
Jamil Iskanderov, who lives in Ergi said, “Yes, we’ve been given a one-off grant to help cultivate the land. But most of the plots we’re offered are close to the front line, and there’s no water there either. That is why the local folk cannot work the land.”
The refugee committee, which built settlements like Ergi and the two at Alibeyli, paints a rosy picture of progress. But Himayat Rizvangizi, who heads Himayadar (Guardian), a non-governmental charity, says her group’s monitoring of the situation has shown up major discrepancies with official accounts. According to Himayadar, refugee families are packed densely into the new houses, with many people of both sexes sharing rooms.
Rizvangizi said only seven of the projected 17 settlements have been finished and occupied to date, and none of these has sanitation or telephone lines. Only two of the six schools have sports facilities, and only one has a computer room.
While the refugee committee says the new villages have 195 kilometres of asphalt roads, the Himayadar group disagrees, saying that four of the seven existing settlements have no roads at all, and the other three only have asphalt on their central streets. When the committee says there are 13 bath-houses at settlements, Himayadar says there are just five.
Asked to account for these discrepancies, Sanan Huseinov, who is head of international relations for the state refugee committee, said his agency was not responsible for the quality of the building work, and redirected IWPR to the government’s fund for IDP social development.
Arif Aliev, who coordinates construction work for the IDP fund, conceded that there were “minor shortcomings” in the building of the settlements. “For example, all the bathrooms have been built to plan, but some of them lack taps,” he said.
Aliev said the construction work had been put out to tender, and the work awarded to the firm that offered the lowest price. “We did what we could. In the real circumstances of Azerbaijan it was impossible to do more,” he said.
But the displaced people insist the authorities have an obligation to improve things.
One refugee, Rafiga Gulieva, who lives in the Ayag Gervend settlement, said her house was damp, there were cracks in the walls and the windows were coming out of their frames.
Under an agreement with the IDPs, the refugee committee is obliged to carry out repair work but Gulieva said their requests for help had gone unanswered.
The agreement also stipulates that once Azerbaijan regains the occupied territories and the refugees return home, the houses they are living in must be restored to their original state and handed back to the committee. “That means that if my house gets ruined, I will have to build a new one for the refugee committee at my own expense,” complained Gulieva.
Residents also complain about a basic lack of public services, saying there is no public transport or rubbish collection in their villages.
Independent economic expert Allahyar Muradov said that when the government failed to provide the IDPs with land, it should at least provide basic services and help them find employment.
“Every month the refugee committee earmarks billions of manats to pay for communal services in the settlements. Who is keeping track of the money?” he asked.
Shahla Abusattar is a freelance journalist in Baku.
From a distance, the purpose-built settlements of Alibeyli-1 and Alibeyli-2 in the Aghdam district of western Azerbaijan look promising, with houses painted pink and lampposts lining an earth road.
However, first impressions can be deceptive. The people who have moved in here complain of damp walls, peeling plaster and unpainted ceilings. There is not a single tree in the entire settlement.
In the Nineties, Azerbaijan had one of the highest refugee populations in the world, with more than a half million internally displaced people, IDPs, from the conflict in Karabakh joining more than 200,000 Azerbaijanis who had earlier fled from Soviet Armenia.
For years, tens of thousands of them lived in tent camps, but these have been gradually closed. In 2001, former president Heidar Aliev signed a decree allocating 359 billion manats, around 81 million US dollars at the time, from the State Oil Fund to build housing for refugees and IDPs. According to the oil fund’s official reports, more than 900 billion manats, over 200 million dollars, have been earmarked since 2001 to provide these homes.
In early August, Ali Hasanov, the head of the state committee for refugees and IDP affairs, said the programme to dismantle all tent camps would be completed by the end of this year. He said the new settlements built for the displaced people were completely fit for habitation.
Yet, despite the large funds being spent, many refugees say no proper planning has gone into the new settlements.
Mehbali Kerimov, originally from the town of Aghdam, now under Armenian occupation, told IWPR, “When moving to this settlement [Alibeyli-1], I had to sell all my livestock. They built four walls in a total desert and forced us to move in here. They’ve given us no land, no financial assistance, and no jobs for us to earn a living.”
Kerimov tried to complain to President Ilham Aliev himself when he was visiting a neighbouring refugee settlement. However, as he attempted to approach the president, security men seized him and locked him up in the police station, where he stayed until Aliev left.
Chaman Mukhtarova, the headmistress of Alibeyli-1’s school, said the village had no sanitation, and her school did not have a gymnasium.
“They’ve built a medical centre, but it has neither water nor electricity. What’s more, it has no doctor,” said resident Sadagat Hasanova. “It’s been almost a year since we moved here, and never a once have we been given medical assistance. Pregnant women have no choice but to give birth at home, there aren’t even any medicines to relieve their pain.”
Another new settlement, the village of Ergi lies very close to the Armenian-Azerbaijani ceasefire line. The road leading to Ergi is not easily passable by offroad vehicles, let alone ordinary cars, and with no telephone lines, there is a sense of isolation from the outside world.
To get water, the refugees have to queue up at outside standpipes, one for every four houses. The village school needs major repairs, even though it was only built four years ago, while the yard of the medical centre is so overgrown that it’s difficult to imagine that the place is ever visited by doctors or patients.
Jamil Iskanderov, who lives in Ergi said, “Yes, we’ve been given a one-off grant to help cultivate the land. But most of the plots we’re offered are close to the front line, and there’s no water there either. That is why the local folk cannot work the land.”
The refugee committee, which built settlements like Ergi and the two at Alibeyli, paints a rosy picture of progress. But Himayat Rizvangizi, who heads Himayadar (Guardian), a non-governmental charity, says her group’s monitoring of the situation has shown up major discrepancies with official accounts. According to Himayadar, refugee families are packed densely into the new houses, with many people of both sexes sharing rooms.
Rizvangizi said only seven of the projected 17 settlements have been finished and occupied to date, and none of these has sanitation or telephone lines. Only two of the six schools have sports facilities, and only one has a computer room.
While the refugee committee says the new villages have 195 kilometres of asphalt roads, the Himayadar group disagrees, saying that four of the seven existing settlements have no roads at all, and the other three only have asphalt on their central streets. When the committee says there are 13 bath-houses at settlements, Himayadar says there are just five.
Asked to account for these discrepancies, Sanan Huseinov, who is head of international relations for the state refugee committee, said his agency was not responsible for the quality of the building work, and redirected IWPR to the government’s fund for IDP social development.
Arif Aliev, who coordinates construction work for the IDP fund, conceded that there were “minor shortcomings” in the building of the settlements. “For example, all the bathrooms have been built to plan, but some of them lack taps,” he said.
Aliev said the construction work had been put out to tender, and the work awarded to the firm that offered the lowest price. “We did what we could. In the real circumstances of Azerbaijan it was impossible to do more,” he said.
But the displaced people insist the authorities have an obligation to improve things.
One refugee, Rafiga Gulieva, who lives in the Ayag Gervend settlement, said her house was damp, there were cracks in the walls and the windows were coming out of their frames.
Under an agreement with the IDPs, the refugee committee is obliged to carry out repair work but Gulieva said their requests for help had gone unanswered.
The agreement also stipulates that once Azerbaijan regains the occupied territories and the refugees return home, the houses they are living in must be restored to their original state and handed back to the committee. “That means that if my house gets ruined, I will have to build a new one for the refugee committee at my own expense,” complained Gulieva.
Residents also complain about a basic lack of public services, saying there is no public transport or rubbish collection in their villages.
Independent economic expert Allahyar Muradov said that when the government failed to provide the IDPs with land, it should at least provide basic services and help them find employment.
“Every month the refugee committee earmarks billions of manats to pay for communal services in the settlements. Who is keeping track of the money?” he asked.
Shahla Abusattar is a freelance journalist in Baku.
