Deputy PM: Gov't could improve housing conditions for 50,000 IDP families

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

Tackling the problems faced by Azerbaijanis, who have violently been driven out of their native lands and obliged to live a refugee life for about 30 years due to the Armenian aggression, is in constant focus of the Azerbaijani state. 

With the growing economic and political situation of the country, the state pays much attention to the most difficult problems once concerning the refugees and IDPs. The state improves the living conditions of refugees and IDPs and it has adopted relevant state programs and legislative acts.

The level of poverty among internally displaced persons (IDPs) has decreased from 75 to 12 percent in Azerbaijan as a result of the measures taken over the past 13 years.

Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs, Ali Hasanov announced about this in his article published in  “Azerbaijan” newspaper.

“Twelve tent camps and three railway freight cars, where IDPs lived in difficult conditions, were liquidated back in 2007, and the last of 16 Finnish-type settlements were demolished in 2016. The IDP families living there were settled in new settlements,” Hasanov noted.

95 modern settlements and residential complexes comprised of multi-storey buildings with a total residential area of 3.2 million square meters have been built for refugees and IDPs to date. 

“All necessary social facilities and technical infrastructure have been created in these settlements in order to ensure that people live comfortably, children get education and receive medical services,” the deputy PM wrote.

Hasanov stated that 151 schools, 58 cultural and 59 medical institutions, 60 kindergartens, two Olympic sports complexes have been built and 730 kilometer-long highway, 965 km water line, 1,625 km power line and 465 km gas pipeline have been constructed.   

The deputy PM noted that the largest school, for 1,300 pupils, for IDPs was constructed in Mushvigabad settlement of Garadagh district in 2012, and the major electric power substation for its capacity – 280 megawatts was put into use in 2007 in Aghjabadi region.

To date, the housing conditions of 50,000 IDP families or 250,000 people have been improved, said Hasanov, mentioning that a total of 2.3 billion manats ($1.37 billion) were allocated for the construction of new settlements.

“Of these funds, 2 billion manats ($1.19 billion) were allocated by the State Oil Fund (SOFAZ). 1.95 billion manats ($1.16 billion), that is 97 percent of these funds have been allocated over the past 13 years,” he wrote.

The deputy PM noted that nearly 6.2 billion manats ($3.7 billion)  have been allocated to solve the problems of refugees and IDPs, of which 2.8 billion manats ($1.67 billion) have been provided from the state budget, 2 billion manats ($1.19 billion) by SOFAZ and 1.4 billion ($830 million) manats by international financial institutions and international organization operating in Azerbaijan. 

“Of these funds, 5.2 billion manats ($3.1 billion), or 85 percent, have been spent over the past 13 years,” Hasanov stated. 

The deputy PM went o to say that over the past 13 years, the monthly allowance granted to IDPs has increased by four times and monthly payments for utilities by 4.5 times. 

“Some 910 various micro-projects worth 85.6 million manats ($51.02 million) have been implemented within the framework of the loan agreement signed between the government of Azerbaijan and World Bank in order to improve infrastructure of the areas densely populated by IDPs,” Hasanov wrote, adding that 11,000 IDPs were granted microcredits for 7.7 million manats ($4.59 million). 

He pointed out that as a result of the measures taken over the past 13 years, the level of poverty among IDPs decreased from 75 to 12 percent. Hasanov added that 750 manats ($447) were spent for each IDP in 2016.

Due to the ethnic cleansing policy carried out by Armenia and the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions of Azerbaijan, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons hit more than 1.2 million. With a population of over 9.8 million, Azerbaijan is among the countries carrying the highest IDP caseload in the world in per capita terms.

Jojug Marjanli village

Ali Hasanov also touched upon the restoration work carried out in the Jojug Marjanli village of Azerbaijan’s Jabrayil region.

“The results of the April fighting have created favorable conditions for the restoration of security in the Jojug Marjanli village and for the return of IDPs to their homes,” he stated. “This victory of Azerbaijan is the beginning of the ‘Great Return’ that we have waited so long.”

Hasanov noted that the President Ilham Aliyev signed a historic order on the restoration of the Jojug Marjanli village.

In late January 2017, the President ordered to restore the village. Under the order, 4 million manats were allocated for the construction of 50 private houses, a school building and relevant infrastructure at the first stage.

“The work on demining of the village territory, as well as projects to restore the village was finished. In parallel to this work, construction of roads was carried out in the village,” Hasanov noted, adding that the construction of houses and school continues in Jojug Marjanli.

He added that today there are 400 households in the village and 1,428 inhabitants are registered.

“More than 200 of these families, who settled in 17 different cities and regions of the country, expressed a written desire to return to their homes,” Hasanov stated.

He expressed confidence that soon Azerbaijan will put an end to the occupation policy of Armenia and internally displaced persons will return to their homes.

Jojug Marjanli was fully liberated from the Armenian occupation in April 2016, when Azerbaijani Armed Forces prevented an Armenian provocation on the contact line. To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani army launched counter attacks and as a result, the Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Leletepe hill located in the direction of Fizuli region.