Refugees in Azerbaijan

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Azerbaijan has a large number of internally displaced people and refugees, mostly as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The First Nagorno-Karabakh war led to the displacement of approximately 700,000 Azerbaijanis. This figure includes around 500,000 people from Nagorno-Karabakh and the previously occupied surrounding regions, in addition to 186,000 from Armenia. [1]

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Refugees from Armenia

Comparison table of Armenian, Azerbaijani and Kurdish population of Armenia. Comparison table of armenian azeri kurdish population of armenia.jpg
Comparison table of Armenian, Azerbaijani and Kurdish population of Armenia.

According to the 1979 census, Azeris numbered 160,841 and constituted 5.3% of Armenia's population. [2] Civil unrest in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1987 led to Azeris' being often harassed and forced to leave Armenia. [3] On 25 January 1988, the first wave of Azeri refugees from Armenia settled in the city of Sumgait. [3] [4] Another major wave occurred in November 1988 [4] as Azeris were either expelled by the nationalists and local or state authorities [5] or fled fearing for their lives. [6] Violence took place as a result of ethnic conflicts; [7] in November 1988, 25 Azeris were killed, according to Armenian sources (of those 20 in the town of Gugark during the Gugark pogrom); [8] and 217, according to Azerbaijani sources. [9]

Thus, in 1988–91 the remaining Azeris were forced to flee primarily to Azerbaijan. [5] [10] [11] It is impossible to determine the exact population numbers for Azeris in Armenia at the time of the conflict's escalation since the 1989 census forced Azeri migration from Armenia was already in progress. UNHCR's estimate is 200,000 persons. [6]

According to the Azerbaijani government at the time of the ceasefire in 1994 there were about 250,000 Azeri refugees from Armenia. [12] According to the 1998 Citizenship Law they are all eligible for citizenship. By the end of 2001, UNHCR estimated that most of them were believed to have naturalized or be in the process of doing so. [13]

Internally displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent territories

Refugees in Azerbaijan Refugeesaz.jpg
Refugees in Azerbaijan

During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, territories constituting the former NKAO region of Azerbaijan and the seven adjacent districts (some of them partly) were occupied by the Armenian forces. As a result, non-Armenians had to leave their homes. Azerbaijan now has one of the highest numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) per capita in the world. [14] The IDPs are presented in all of the 76 administrative districts in Azerbaijan. Initially, most of them lived in tent camps and public buildings such as schools, hostels, and dormitories. Since 2001, the Government increased its efforts to solve IDPs' problems. In 2002, the construction of new settlements started, and by the end of 2007, all tent camps were abolished. [12]

The Government of Azerbaijan with the help of the international community has started drafting a Framework Plan for the Return of IDPs to the occupied regions after the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict (The Great Return Programme). [12]

Meskhetian Turks

In 1944, Meskhetian Turks were deported en masse from Georgia to Central Asia by Joseph Stalin. One of the regions they resettled in was Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan. In 1989, interethnic violence occurred there triggering an evacuation of Meskhetian Turks from Uzbekistan.[ dubious – discuss ] This group of refugees in Azerbaijan numbered about 50,000 people. According to the 1998 Citizenship Law, they are all eligible for citizenship. By the end of 2001, UNHCR estimated that most of them were believed to have naturalized.

Statistics

Distribution of IDPs in Azerbaijan's regions according to the Government of Azerbaijan Distribution of IDPs in Azerbaijan (2009).jpg
Distribution of IDPs in Azerbaijan's regions according to the Government of Azerbaijan

According to State Committee of Azerbaijan for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, there were 603,251 IDPs in Azerbaijan in March 2009. The majority live in and around Baku, as well as in Sumgayit. Significant numbers of IDPs also live along the central-southern route of Fuzuli–Aghdam–Aghjabadi–Barda–Mingechevir–Ganja, the northern route of Shamakhi–Ismayilli–Qabala–Shaki and the southern route of Sabirabad–Saatly–Imishli–Beylagan. [12]

Problems

Although relations between IDPs and the local population are generally amicable and there is a high level of tolerance among the local population, there are instances of conflicts arising due to the special status of IDPs (such as privileged access to employment, government financial assistance, free health services and property ownership privileges). [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nagorno-Karabakh</span> Geopolitical region in Azerbaijan

Nagorno-Karabakh is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik. Its terrain mostly consists of mountains and forestland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internally displaced person</span> Person forced to leave their home who remains within their country

An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meskhetian Turks</span> Ethnic subgroup of Turks

Meskhetian Turks, also referred to as Turkish Meskhetians, Ahiska Turks, and Turkish Ahiskans, are a subgroup of ethnic Turkish people formerly inhabiting the Meskheti region of Georgia, along the border with Turkey. The Turkish presence in Meskheti began with the Ottoman military expedition of 1578, although Turkic tribes had settled in the region as early as the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republic of Artsakh</span> Former breakaway state in the South Caucasus

Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh or the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, was a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Between 1991 and 2023, Artsakh controlled parts of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, including its capital Stepanakert. It had been an enclave within Azerbaijan from the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war until the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive, when the Azerbaijani military took control over the remaining territory controlled by Artsakh. Its only overland access route to Armenia after the 2020 war was via the 5 km (3.1 mi) wide Lachin corridor, which was placed under the supervision of Russian peacekeeping forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Nagorno-Karabakh War</span> 1988–1994 Armenia-Azerbaijan war

The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan with support from Turkey. As the war progressed, Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former Soviet republics, entangled themselves in protracted, undeclared mountain warfare in the mountainous heights of Karabakh as Azerbaijan attempted to curb the secessionist movement in Nagorno-Karabakh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast</span> Region in the Azerbaijan SSR (1923–1991)

The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) was an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its capital was the city of Stepanakert. The leader of the oblast was the First Secretary of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan. The majority of the population were ethnic Armenians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azerbaijanis in Armenia</span> Ethnic group

Azerbaijanis in Armenia numbered 29 people according to the 2001 census of Armenia. Although they have previously been the biggest minority in the country according to 1831–1989 censuses, they are virtually non-existent since 1988–1991 when most fled or were forced out of the country as a result of the tensions of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War to neighboring Azerbaijan. The UNHCR estimates that the current population of Azerbaijanis in Armenia to be somewhere between 30 and a few hundred people, with most of them living in rural areas as members of mixed couples, as well as elderly or sick. Most of them are reported to have changed their names to maintain a low profile to avoid discrimination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khojaly, Nagorno-Karabakh</span> Town in Azerbaijan

Khojaly is a town in the Khojaly District of Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of the Republic of Artsakh</span> Demographics of Artsakh

Demographic features of the population of Artsakh include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh</span> Formerly occupied territories of Azerbaijan

The Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh were areas of Azerbaijan, situated around the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), which were occupied by the ethnic Armenian military forces of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh with military support from Armenia, from the end of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988–1994) to 2020, when the territories were returned to Azerbaijani control by military force or handed over in accordance to the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement. The surrounding regions were seized by Armenians under the justification of a "security belt" which was to be traded for recognition of autonomous status from Azerbaijan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurds in Azerbaijan</span> Ethnic group

The Kurds in Azerbaijan form a part of the historically significant Kurdish population in the post-Soviet space. Kurds established a presence in the Caucasus with the establishment of the Kurdish Shaddadid dynasty in the 10th and 11th centuries. Some Kurdish tribes were recorded in Karabakh by the end of the sixteenth century. However, virtually the entire contemporary Kurdish population in the modern Azerbaijan descends from migrants from 19th-century Qajar Iran.

Mass deportation of Azerbaijanis from Armenia took place several times throughout the 20th century, and sometimes some of them have been described by some authors as acts of forced resettlement and ethnic cleansing.

The anti-Azerbaijani sentiment, or anti-Azerbaijanism has been mainly rooted in several countries, most notably in Russia, Armenia and Iran, where anti-Azerbaijani sentiment has sometimes led to violent ethnic incidents.

A refugee crisis can refer to difficulties and dangerous situations in the reception of large groups of forcibly displaced persons. These could be either internally displaced, refugees, asylum seekers or any other huge groups of migrants.

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 48/144 of 20 December 1993 is a resolution in which the General Assembly expressed its concern at the ongoing degradation of the humanitarian situation in Azerbaijan because of the displacement of considerable number of citizens due to Nagorno Karabakh conflict and supporting "emergency international assistance to refugees and displaced persons in Azerbaijan". The resolution is titled “48/114. Emergency international assistance to refugees and displaced persons in Azerbaijan”. It became the fifth United Nations document concerning Nagorno-Karabakh and the first United Nations General Assembly document on humanitarian aid to those affected by this conflict. This resolution was the first international document affirming the number of refugees and displaced persons in Azerbaijan exceeded one million. The document does not make any specific reference to previous UN resolutions on the ongoing conflict, but "its relevant resolutions regarding humanitarian assistance to refugees and displaced persons". The resolution was adopted by consensus without voting.

Isgender Aznaurov is a National Hero of Azerbaijan, and the warrior of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.

The Gugark pogrom was a pogrom directed against the Azerbaijani minority of the Gugark District in the Armenian SSR, then part of the Soviet Union.

The Lachin offensive was a military operation launched by Azerbaijan against the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh and their Armenian allies along the Armenia–Azerbaijan border during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, with the suspected goal of taking control of the Lachin corridor. The offensive began in mid-October, when the Azerbaijani forces advanced into Qubadlı and Laçın Districts after capturing Zəngilan. On 25 October, the Azerbaijani forces seized control of the city of Qubadlı.

The 2020 Azerbaijani protests, also known within Azerbaijan as the Karabakh March, were series of civil protests from 12 to 15 July in various cities and towns in Azerbaijan. They erupted during the Armenian–Azerbaijani border clashes, with the protestors demanding full-scale war with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 bombardment of Martuni</span> Bombardment by Azerbaijani forces

The bombardment of Martuni was the bombardment of the cities, towns, and villages in the Martuni Province of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, which is de jure a part of Azerbaijan. It was carried out by Azerbaijani Armed Forces during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. The city Martuni, along with the de facto capital Stepanakert, were badly damaged as a result of shelling. The shelling resulted in the deaths of five civilians. 1,203 buildings were damaged in the province as a result of the bombardment, according to Artsakh Urban Development Ministry. Victoria Gevorgyan, a resident of the Martuni Province of Nagorno-Karabakh, became the first child killed on the very first day of the war.

References

  1. ↑ "Адекватному пониманию армяно-азербайджанского конфликта мешает распространение и повторение ложной статистики". BBC . 15 July 2005. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Общее число перемещенных лиц среди азербайджанского населения составляет около 750 тыс. чел., что существенно меньше "одного миллиона", которым регулярно оперировал президент Алиев. Однако все равно это весьма внушительная цифра. Сюда входят 186 тыс. азербайджанцев, 18 тыс. курдов-мусульман и 3,5 тыс. русских, которые в 1988-1989 годах переехали из Армении в Азербайджан
  2. ↑ "All-Soviet Population Census of 1979 - Ethnic Composition in the Republics of the USSR: Armenian SSR". Demoscope.ru (in Russian). Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 Svante Cornell. "The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict". Sakharov-Center.ru (in Russian). Archived 6 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 "Karabakh: Timeline of the Conflict". BBC Russian (in Russian). Archived 11 July 2012 at archive.today
  5. 1 2 Lowell W. Barrington (2006). After Independence. University of Michigan Press. p. 231. ISBN   0-472-06898-9 – via books.google.com. Archived 28 September 2023 at the Wayback Machine
  6. 1 2 "International Protection Considerations Regarding Armenian Asylum-Seekers and Refugees" (PDF). United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Geneva. September 2003. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  7. ↑ Yazep Abzavaty (15 January 2007). "The Unrecognized IV. The Bitter Fruit of the 'Black Garden'". Nashe Mnenie. Retrieved 1 August 2008. Archived 20 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ "Pogroms in Armenia: Opinions, Conjecture and Facts- Interview with Head of the Armenian Committee for National Security Usik Harutyunyan". Ekspress-Khronika #16 (in Russian). 16 April 1991. Retrieved 1 August 2008. Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ "Əsir və itkin düşmüş, girov götürülmüş vətəndaşlarla əlaqədar Dövlət Komissiyası". www.human.gov.az. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  10. ↑ "UNHCR U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services Country Reports Azerbaijan. The Status of Armenians, Russians, Jews and Other Minorities". www.unhcr.org. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  11. ↑ "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2004: Armenia". U.S. Department of State. Archived 28 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Azerbaijan: Analysis of Gaps in the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees". United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Archived from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  13. ↑ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | International Protection Considerations Regarding Azerbaijani Asylum-Seekers and Refugees". Refworld. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  14. ↑ "Global Report on Internal Displacement". Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
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