Chairman of the State Committee for Affairs of Refugees and IDPs, Rovshan Rzayev, met with Jean-Dominique Merchet, a correspondent for diplomatic and defense issues of the French Republic's publication “L’Opinion”.

The guest was provided  with detailed information on the causes of the problem of refugees and internally displaced persons in our country, as well as about the government policy implemented in this sphere. It has been pointed out that as a consequence of Armenia’s occupation and deportation policy, more than one million Azerbaijanis were forced to leave their homeland and encountered serious hardships. It was noted that in the early years of the conflict, internally displaced persons lived in various temporary accommodation centers, and a group of them lived in tent cities in difficult and hard conditions. Abolishment process of the tent cities was finished in 2007, and very good standard of living were created for the settlers. More than 300 thousand internally displaced persons settled in 116 settlements built by the state to better their welfare.

It was stated that refugees and internally displaced persons are always surrounded by the attention and care of the state. It was noted that among the priorities of President Ilham Aliyev’s social policy, solving the problems of refugees and internally displaced persons occupies an important place and First Vice-President Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva pays special attention to protecting the rights and interests of persons belonging to this category.

It was noted that currently Azerbaijan has fully restored its sovereignty in the territories liberated from occupation, and there is a real opportunity for hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons to voluntarily, safely and with dignity return to their homeland in accordance with the principles of international law. From this point of view, the corresponding State program has been adopted, its Action Plan has been approved and is being successfully implemented. The Great Return has begun and will take on even greater proportions in the following years.

It was noted that the state is implementing large-scale projects, preference is given to the concepts of “smart village” and “smart city” in order to ensure living conditions for forced migrants that meet modern requirements in the territories liberated from occupation. At the same time, it was highlighted that during the occupation of Azerbaijan's territories, Armenia’s mining of lands without military purposes slows down the process of the Great Return.

Jean-Dominique Merchet appreciated for this heartfelt conversation and stressed that the purpose of his visit was to provide objective information on the realities of Azerbaijan to the world.

The Chairman of the State Committee explained all the issues that interested him regarding refugees and internally displaced persons and responded their questions.