Round table of Baku International Humanitarian Forum highlights problems of refugees and IDPs

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Mətbuat xidmətinin məlumatı 01 October, 2016

The problem of refugees and IDPs is the main focus of attention at a round table on “The Importance of Preserving the Human Capital in Conditions of Mass Migration as a Basis for Sustainable Development” held as part of the 5th Baku International Humanitarian Forum. Opening the event, Director of the Azerbaijan International Development Agency (AIDA) Ashraf Shikhaliyev highlighted the importance of the Forum. Then “State care for refugees and internally displaced persons” short film was screened. Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov said the latest wars, conflicts, and growing poverty around the world is bringing about mass migrations. Distinguished guests! Dear participants of the event! Ladies and gentlemen! First of all, I would sincerely like to welcome the foreign visitors and each of you on behalf of the Azerbaijani government and wish success to this event. Today's roundtable is devoted to a very important issue. In recent years, the scope of migration has been expanding rapidly for various reasons - the conflicts, wars, natural disasters in the world and as a result of this, the number of people leaving their countries and suffering unimaginable horrors is growing every year. According to statistics, the number of refugees and displaced persons in the world today exceeds 60 million. This is 3 times higher compared to the similar 20 years ago period. Extraordinary events taking place in different regions of the world are, of course, a serious concern for us as a country subjected to aggression for a long time. Mass displacement of people as a result of conflicts poses a major obstacle to sustainable development in different regions of the world. One of the main tasks of such a serious situation is taking determined, thoughtful steps to preserve the human capital. Governments being ready for it and taking the necessary steps to this end could serve towards getting out of the situation with least damage in such a serious condition. Dear participants of the event! I would like to bring some of my thoughts to your attention, in addition to the film being featured. At the beginning of the 1990s more than 1 million people became refugees and internally displaced persons as a result of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and ethnic cleansing in Armenia, occupation of 20% of the territory of Azerbaijan, migration of refugees from other countries to our country. 250 thousand people out of them are refugees from Armenia, 700 thousand people are internally displaced persons from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, 50 thousand people are from Central Asia and 15 thousand people are refugees from other countries. As a result of aggressive policy of Armenia, the rights of these people, who have become refugees and internally displaced persons, have been flagrantly violated and they have got a number of problems with pending solutions. One of the most serious blows was threats to human capital and therefore, one of the main objectives of the steps taken by the young state of Azerbaijan was namely to protect this wealth. 20 per cent of our country is still under occupation, the settlements, infrastructure, historical and cultural monuments, in a word, everything is destroyed, a large damage, according to estimates more than $ 500 billion, has been caused to the national economy, people have lost everything. Surely, the biggest loss is 30 thousand of our citizens who lost their lives in the war. With 10 million population, a young and small state of Azerbaijan has been solving the problems of refugees, internally displaced people, whose number has grown up to more than one million two hundred thousand due to the natural growth, while respecting the international laws, fulfilling its obligations properly for more than 20 years. For the sake of comparison, I would like to draw you attention to the fact that Europe with its 550 million population, has become a hostage in the hands of one million refugees and migrants, and the situation is not controlled. What are the main features of this Azerbaijani model? - The problem being declared by the National leader Heydar Aliyev and the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev as the problem of number one priority; - Keeping the problem of refugees and internally displaced persons in the center of attention by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev on a regular basis, informing the public about these matters in all the local and international events regularly; - The problem being coordinated from a single center; - Establishment of the national legal framework in line with international law to ensure the management of problems of refugees and internally displaced persons across the country - Paying special attention to the solution of social problems of refugees and internally displaced persons, improvement of their living conditions; - Creating necessary conditions for the efficient use of their knowledge, skills and experience as well as normal environment for taking an active role in public, political life, their contribution towards economic development; - Ensuring free migration and integration of refugees and internally displaced persons within the country. All of these, of course, serve covering the people, who have been forced to leave their homes, with permanent cares and the preservation of human capital. Unlike the countries facing such a conflict, for the management of this field by a single center, the position of the Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the State Committee for Affairs of Refugees and IDPs was established in the structure of the Cabinet of Ministers in 1998. Republican Commission on International Humanitarian Assistance under the leadership of the Deputy Prime Minister was also established to ensure the activities of the international and local humanitarian organizations operating in the country. A special department operates with the problems of refugees, internally displaced persons and migration in the structure of Apparatus of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan. All the issues of internally displaced persons are regulated by the State Committee for Affairs of Refugees and IDPs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the problems of refugees are dealth with by the State Migration Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Governance structures of all the occupied territories, as well as education, health and cultural institutions are functioning in a stable manner. The legal framework has been established in full accordance with international standards in order to protect the rights of people affected by the conflict, to strengthen their social protection, 96 decrees and orders have beem signed by the President, 368 decisions and resolutions have been adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers, and 34 laws have been adopted by the National Assembly. Also 2 State Programmes have been approved with 2 amendments. Creation of favorable conditions has been achieved in order to protect and develop the human capital in identification of comprehensive state policy, adoption and implementation of state programs aimed at solving the problems of refugees and internally displaced persons. 95 residential complexes have been built according to modern standards, 50 thousand families of more than 250 thousand refugees and internally displaced persons have been provided with new appartments at the expence of the State Oil Fund. In addition to all of the social infrastructure, 150 schools, 58 cultural centers, 59 kindergartens, 58 medical centers, 2 Olympic sport complexes have been constructed in the new residential areas. The access of refugees and displaced persons to the provision of education in the shortest time, providing the people of this category with special privileges, including access to state-funded universities abroad have led to the creation of conditions for the preservation of the level of literacy among them and assisted to their full integration into society. The results of the admission exams for this category of young people is a good indicator in terms of ensuring their access to quality education and assessing the realization of their capabilities. As a result of supporting the potential of highly skilled refugees and internally displaced persons and providing them with jobs, using their knowledge and skills purposefully, an important contribution has been given to the country's sustainable socio-economic development. In addition to national governments it is a very important issue for the international community, including international humanitarian and development organizations to improve the living standards of refugees and IDPs and to support their capacity for getting quality education in affected countries. Moreover, the international organizations should attract the representatives of this vulnerable group within their programs in a wider range of work. 2 thousand displaced people obtain the title of student in the country every year. This year alone, there have been many displaced people among those gaining 700 points, awarded the Presidential Scholarship and admitted to the universities. The internally displaced persons studying at the paid departments of the state higher educational institutions are exempted from paying tuition fees. In the process of reduction of workplaces at the institutions and enterprises internally displaced persons are in the most secured position. The internally displaced persons are receiving monthly benefits for expenses and they are exempted from the public utilities fees (electricity, water, gas). As a result of the head of state attention and care, the amount of the monthly food allowance benefit to IDPs has increased by 4.5 times in the last 13 years, and the amount of funds for utilities by 4 times. During last 13 years, 161 thousand people out of 380 thousand able-bodied IDPs have been provided with permanent jobs in the budget organizations and other businesses, and 200 thousand people have been provided with temporary work, 2,800 people have been involved in vocational training courses, 16 thousand families have been provided with targeted social assistance. 910 micro-projects amounting to 85.6 million AZN have been implemented, which benefitted 610 thousand people on the loan agreement signed between the World Bank and the Government of Azerbaijan in order to improve infrastructure in the objects densely populated by internally displaced persons on a temporary basis. Also, 11 thousand IDPs have received microloans worth 7.7 million AZN in order to increase their employment. 2 thousand IDP entrepreneurs have been granted soft loans amounting to 40.3 million AZN by the National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support, 3,606 new jobs have been created. The amount of money spent for each IDP is about 1,200 US dollars, which is the highest amount compared to other conflict zones around the world. The level of poverty among IDPs has dropped from 74 percent down to 12 percent in the last 13 years. Over 6.0 billion US dollars has been spent for the solution of social problems of refugees and internally displaced people in the last 23 years. 2.7 billion USD out of it has been covered from the state budget, $ 2.0 billion from the State Oil Fund, and $ 1.4 billion of it from the international financial institutions and the resources of international humanitarian organizations operating in the country. It should be especially emphasized that Azerbaijan's experience in the government support for refugees and internally displaced persons, work in solving their social problems, management experience in this problem, as well as protection of human capital is an experience model that has no analogues in the world. As noted repeatedly by the heads of a number of influential international organizations, during the visits of the former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Antonio Guterres to our country and in the sessions of the Executive Committee he also emphasized repeatedly that the activities of the President of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev and the experience of Azerbaijan in this area could serve as a model for many countries around the world. I would like to highlight specially the activity of The Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the President of the Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva in the settlement of the social problems of the people who have been forced to leave their homes, the activities of the Foundation’s Vice-President Leyla Aliyeva in recognition of the Khojaly genocide in the world. Azerbaijan has joined all the conventions on human rights, has been elected to the Executive Committee of the UNHCR, is in close cooperation with international organizations. Currently, various projects are carried out by 21 international and 22 national humanitarian organizations. In the early 1990s, the number of international humanitarian organizations was 90 and especially I would like to underline their activities in the period of Azerbaijan’s facing humanitarian crisis and to express my gratitude for their special contributions. According to the instruction of the President exemplary conditions were established for completely free and transparent activities of these organizations. First of all, this is the view expressed by the heads of the international financial institutions, donors, humanitarian organizations. At the same time, Azerbaijan has become a donor country. The national donor organization, the Azerbaijan International Development Agency (AIDA) is bringing positive change to the lives of thousands of people by implementing the development programs aimed at the support to the development in a number of countries of the world and humanitarian aid programs. Today, the agency is celebrating its 5-year anniversary. In this regard, I would like to congratulate AIDA, wish it to have new high achievements in its noble work. I would like to mention one more issue. The national legislation of the country has been fully agreed in accordance with the signed international treaties on refugees and internally displaced persons, and even in some cases, it is adapted to define superior rights to its utmost. 40 million of the world's 60 million migrants are internally displaced persons. Therefore, as we mentioned many times in the international events, we believe that the adoption of the International Convention on IDPs is also necessary. Dear participants of the event! Despite the fact that more than 25 years already passed, the conflict is not solved yet, the injustice continues, the execution of the decisions and resolutions of UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, OIC and others international organizations regarding the problem remain unfulfilled, the activity of OSCE Minsk Group does not give any result. Armenia does not observe a cease-fire, regularly opens a fire at civilians, residential areas. In fact, contrary to the requirements of the Geneva Convention of 1949, ethnic Armenian civilians are brought from outside, from Syria and settled in our territories illegally. During 2 trips to the areas, the OSCE Fact-Finding Mission was witnessing such facts. It should be noted that the drugs are cultivated by Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and processed by the private laboratories, and then sent to CIS, Europe by Armenian military staff and narco mafia, they are engaged with smuggling of weapons and terrorists are prepared and sent to conflict zones. These areas have also become a transit route for Afghan drugs. The necessary documents about the abovementioned issues have already been presented to the UN Office in Vienna by the law enforcement agencies of our country. The problem faced by Azerbaijan is not a problem of the region only, but the one for the whole world. Therefore, the international community must demonstrate a firm and consistent position towards a fair resolution of this conflict and should force Armenia to start the work on a peace treaty. Settlement of the conflict will create favorable environment in the establishment of stable peace, security and cooperation in the region and more efficient use of human capitals. In addition to these, taking preventive measures and redistribution of responsibility will serve towards reducing the cases leading to massive forced displacement of people in the future. Thanks for your attention. Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria Margarita Popova stressed that it is very important for the world to preserve the human capital. She also hailed humanitarian and global forums held in Baku.