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TACKLING AZERBAIJAN'S IDP BURDEN
International Crisis Group
http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/europe/caucasus/azerbaijan/B067-tackling-azerbaijans-idp-burden.aspx
Feb 27 2012
Azerbaijan has made significant progress in recent years in caring
for roughly 600,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were
forcibly evicted from Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts
by ethnic Armenian forces nearly two decades ago. Though many still
face precarious existences, the state has been investing heavily in
new housing and increasing benefits. But while some IDPs have fully
integrated, many more are still in limbo. The government and most
of the displaced favour return to their original homes. That the
stalled peace process with Armenia means this is not an immediate
prospect should not preclude IDPs from being full participants in
Azerbaijan's political and economic life. Yet, their unresolved
fate is one of the main reminders of the conflict - and, without a
peaceful settlement, puts pressure on the Azerbaijan leadership to
prepare for the possibility of a new war.
2011 was a lost year for the peace process, as seven years of talks
on a Basic Principles agreement meant to lay the foundation for an
eventual comprehensive peace deadlocked. Baku and Yerevan are in the
midst of a major arms race and exchange increasingly militaristic
statements, while sporadic clashes along the front lines kill about 30
persons annually. Beyond some possible confidence-building measures
(CBMs), there is little likelihood of progress for the coming year,
with Armenia, Azerbaijan and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries
(France, Russia, U.S.) all entering electoral cycles. Earlier
Crisis Group reports have explored the threat of resumed fighting
and suggested ways to move toward resolution of the conflict. A
forthcoming report will again analyse the diplomatic and security
situation. This briefing, however, concentrates on a too often ignored
human consequence of the crisis.
The Azerbaijan government has begun to expend significantly more
resources to improve the lot of the displaced, who are 7 per
cent of the total population - one of the highest rates in the
world. 108,000 were moved into new housing over the past two years,
with space for 115,000 more slated to be constructed by 2015. Some
complain, however, of poor construction and infrastructure, lack of
community participation in planning and limited access to land or job
opportunities in the new communities, all areas that need additional
attention and improvement.
Azerbaijan's IDPs benefit from free or low-cost education, health care
and energy and have some special employment opportunities, though
their ability to express their interests is limited by inability to
elect municipal representatives. The some 40,000 from Nagorno-Karabakh
are in principle represented as a group by the Azerbaijani Community
of Nagorno-Karabakh Social Union, but its leadership is not fully
popularly elected, and the 560,000 displaced from the occupied
districts around Nagorno-Karabakh are not well represented. The
political voice of IDPs thus remains weak. They should be more
effectively integrated into decision-making about housing, services,
and other community needs, as well as contingency planning for
emergencies and confidence-building measures (CBMs).
This briefing includes a section on conditions for those approximately
128,000 IDPs and permanent residents living in close proximity to
the 180km-long line of contact (LoC) that marks the 1994 ceasefire
between the opposing forces. It does not address the plight of the
Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan and vice versa who fled the initial
violence in the late 1980s, as the overwhelming majority of them have
been largely integrated into their respective new countries. Regular
exchange of fire between trenches, snipers, mines and a lingering
threat of renewed full-scale hostilities make living conditions near
the LoC particularly precarious. A small (six-person) monitoring team
from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
has virtually no resources, meaning it provides inadequate oversight
and inspires little confidence among the contending sides or civilians.
To facilitate greater IDP engagement in policies relevant to their
lives, the Azerbaijan government should:
Uincrease transparency; involve IDPs as much as possible in housing
decisions; and streamline processes for reporting incidents of
corruption or violations of state law regarding IDP issues; and
Uallow IDPs, while their villages and towns remain occupied, to vote
for municipal councils in their places of temporary residence.
To protect IDPs and other civilians along the LoC, the Azerbaijan
authorities should:
Uagree with the Armenian government and the de facto authorities
in Nagorno-Karabakh to an expanded interim OSCE monitoring role,
to an OSCE proposal to remove snipers from the LoC and to set up an
incident investigation mechanism, as well as to immediately cease
military exercises near the LoC and advancing trench positions; and
Ucreate an inter-ministerial task force, including the National Agency
for Mine Action (ANAMA), to design a strategy to increase the safety
of communities near the LoC, including more civil defence training,
while refraining from resettling additional IDPs there.
The international community, in particular the co-chairs of the
Minsk Group (France, Russia, U.S.) facilitating efforts to reach a
comprehensive peace, should:
Ufacilitate the creation of an incident investigation mechanism,
including the operation of a hotline between the sides to discuss
ceasefire breaches, and otherwise protect the civilian population
living near the LoC; and ~Udevelop more on-the-ground CBMs to create an
atmosphere of trust, including promoting civil society meetings between
the ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and the ethnic Azeri
population expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh and the occupied territories.
International Crisis Group
http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/europe/caucasus/azerbaijan/B067-tackling-azerbaijans-idp-burden.aspx
Feb 27 2012
Azerbaijan has made significant progress in recent years in caring
for roughly 600,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were
forcibly evicted from Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts
by ethnic Armenian forces nearly two decades ago. Though many still
face precarious existences, the state has been investing heavily in
new housing and increasing benefits. But while some IDPs have fully
integrated, many more are still in limbo. The government and most
of the displaced favour return to their original homes. That the
stalled peace process with Armenia means this is not an immediate
prospect should not preclude IDPs from being full participants in
Azerbaijan's political and economic life. Yet, their unresolved
fate is one of the main reminders of the conflict - and, without a
peaceful settlement, puts pressure on the Azerbaijan leadership to
prepare for the possibility of a new war.
2011 was a lost year for the peace process, as seven years of talks
on a Basic Principles agreement meant to lay the foundation for an
eventual comprehensive peace deadlocked. Baku and Yerevan are in the
midst of a major arms race and exchange increasingly militaristic
statements, while sporadic clashes along the front lines kill about 30
persons annually. Beyond some possible confidence-building measures
(CBMs), there is little likelihood of progress for the coming year,
with Armenia, Azerbaijan and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries
(France, Russia, U.S.) all entering electoral cycles. Earlier
Crisis Group reports have explored the threat of resumed fighting
and suggested ways to move toward resolution of the conflict. A
forthcoming report will again analyse the diplomatic and security
situation. This briefing, however, concentrates on a too often ignored
human consequence of the crisis.
The Azerbaijan government has begun to expend significantly more
resources to improve the lot of the displaced, who are 7 per
cent of the total population - one of the highest rates in the
world. 108,000 were moved into new housing over the past two years,
with space for 115,000 more slated to be constructed by 2015. Some
complain, however, of poor construction and infrastructure, lack of
community participation in planning and limited access to land or job
opportunities in the new communities, all areas that need additional
attention and improvement.
Azerbaijan's IDPs benefit from free or low-cost education, health care
and energy and have some special employment opportunities, though
their ability to express their interests is limited by inability to
elect municipal representatives. The some 40,000 from Nagorno-Karabakh
are in principle represented as a group by the Azerbaijani Community
of Nagorno-Karabakh Social Union, but its leadership is not fully
popularly elected, and the 560,000 displaced from the occupied
districts around Nagorno-Karabakh are not well represented. The
political voice of IDPs thus remains weak. They should be more
effectively integrated into decision-making about housing, services,
and other community needs, as well as contingency planning for
emergencies and confidence-building measures (CBMs).
This briefing includes a section on conditions for those approximately
128,000 IDPs and permanent residents living in close proximity to
the 180km-long line of contact (LoC) that marks the 1994 ceasefire
between the opposing forces. It does not address the plight of the
Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan and vice versa who fled the initial
violence in the late 1980s, as the overwhelming majority of them have
been largely integrated into their respective new countries. Regular
exchange of fire between trenches, snipers, mines and a lingering
threat of renewed full-scale hostilities make living conditions near
the LoC particularly precarious. A small (six-person) monitoring team
from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
has virtually no resources, meaning it provides inadequate oversight
and inspires little confidence among the contending sides or civilians.
To facilitate greater IDP engagement in policies relevant to their
lives, the Azerbaijan government should:
Uincrease transparency; involve IDPs as much as possible in housing
decisions; and streamline processes for reporting incidents of
corruption or violations of state law regarding IDP issues; and
Uallow IDPs, while their villages and towns remain occupied, to vote
for municipal councils in their places of temporary residence.
To protect IDPs and other civilians along the LoC, the Azerbaijan
authorities should:
Uagree with the Armenian government and the de facto authorities
in Nagorno-Karabakh to an expanded interim OSCE monitoring role,
to an OSCE proposal to remove snipers from the LoC and to set up an
incident investigation mechanism, as well as to immediately cease
military exercises near the LoC and advancing trench positions; and
Ucreate an inter-ministerial task force, including the National Agency
for Mine Action (ANAMA), to design a strategy to increase the safety
of communities near the LoC, including more civil defence training,
while refraining from resettling additional IDPs there.
The international community, in particular the co-chairs of the
Minsk Group (France, Russia, U.S.) facilitating efforts to reach a
comprehensive peace, should:
Ufacilitate the creation of an incident investigation mechanism,
including the operation of a hotline between the sides to discuss
ceasefire breaches, and otherwise protect the civilian population
living near the LoC; and ~Udevelop more on-the-ground CBMs to create an
atmosphere of trust, including promoting civil society meetings between
the ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and the ethnic Azeri
population expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh and the occupied territories.