Azerbaijan, Baku, Trend, M.Aliyev /
UN ready to continue its assistance to IDPs in Azerbaijan, which will be provided in the form of technical consultation, as well as some resources, representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Walter Kälin said during his visit to Baku at the meeting with the deputy Prime-Minister, chairman of the State Committee for refugees and internally displaced people Ali Hasanov.
"The great problem of internally displaced persons is the unsettlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict peacefully," Kälin said.
According to him, in recent years much has been done to solve the problems of internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan, but works on improving the living conditions of people living in tents, should be continued.
"Practice shows that by returning to native land the displaced persons, who depend on humanitarian aid feel no energy to work, it is necessary to provide these peoples with job," Walter Kälin stressed.
Works on all nine directions to improve the living conditions of IDPs, indicated by the representative of UN Secretary General during his last visit, have been carried out, Ali Hasanov said at the meeting.
"In 2008-2009 $800 million was spent on improving living conditions of IDPs, $300 million of which were taken from the Oil Fund, $300 million - from the state budget", Deputy Prime Minister said.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection provided 747 IDPs with job.
"In recent years the level of poverty in Azerbaijan has fallen from 75% to 25%. In general, 400,000 people of 600,000 internally displaced persons live in poor living conditions, and this means that international organizations and Azerbaijani Government should continue to work in this direction," Hasanov said.
Hasanov also said that the program on return of internally displaced persons is being prepared. Two questions still remain unanswered in this program. First, it is a question regarding the fact that in Soviet times, the property in the occupied territories was estimated at $60 billion. According to recent data, most of the property ruined and re-evaluation should be held through international organizations" he said.
Secondly, due to the fact that before the occupation of these territories the Soviet economy functioned, the Ministry of Economic Development should accommodate the economic situation to the economy of Azerbaijan.
Since 1992, $2.9 billion were spent to the IDPs, $1.3 billion of which came from the state budget, 800 million - the Oil Fund, 800 million - from international organizations.
As a result of occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia one million people have become internally displaced persons.