Over 12,000 Azerbaijani IDPs provided with new apartments

As many as 2,300 families – more than 12,000 internally displaced persons – were provided with new houses and apartments in Azerbaijan in 2017, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov said.

As many as 2,300 families - more than 12,000 internally displaced persons - were provided with new houses and apartments in Azerbaijan in 2017, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov said.

He made the remarks at an expanded meeting of the Committee's board dedicated to the results of 2017 and forthcoming tasks.

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

Problems of IDPs became the subject of daily care and the number one issue for the country. In the years of 2001-2016, 95 settlements have been built, 151 schools, 58 cultural centers, 59 health centers and other infrastructure facilities for IDPs have been constructed. The poverty rate among IDPs declined from 75 percent to 12 percent.

During the meeting, Hasanov emphasized the relevant orders of the President of Azerbaijan aimed at restoration and long-term development of the liberated Jojug Marjanli village of the Jabrayil region. He noted the President's visit to the village to get familiar with the works on its restoration, as well as another decree on continuing the village restoration.