Some facts on IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) - #Azerbaijan THREAD.

1. The NKAO (Nagorno- #Karabakh Oblast) had a population of 189,000 inhabitants (of which 40,688 were Azerbaijani residents).

2. Ethnic composition was: 77% ethnic Armenians, 22% ethnic Azerbaijanis (1989 census) https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng# {%22itemid%22:[%22001-155662%22]}

3. Several NKAO towns had considerable Azeri population, e.g. Shusha's pre-war population (NKAO) was 98% Azerbaijani: https://twitter.com/AzStudies/status/1315021110715576322

4. By the end-1993, some 780,000 Azeris were internally displaced from the 7 adjacent districts (on top of the 40,688 IDPs from NKAO proper). https://twitter.com/AzStudies/status/1312748128844554242

5. The ethnic composition of the 7 adjacent districts occupied by Armenia was 95% Azerbaijani. More details here: https://twitter.com/AzStudies/status/1312767051010899971

6. The IDPs constituted about 15 percent of the country’s population (at that time), one of the highest concentrations of IDPs per capita in the world: https://ieg.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/Data/reports/ppar_azerbaijandisplacement.pdf

7. The war and the plight of IDPs was a real humanitarian catastrophe - the IDP families lost their houses, property, lands etc - but their voices are largely omitted from mainstream media.

8. The influx of IDPs had adverse socio-economic impacts; most IDPS live in public buildings, dormitories and temporary shelters and in substandard housing.

9. IDPs are more vulnerable to poverty and unemployment; the poverty rate among IDPs in the early 2000s was close to 75% (World Bank, 2010, https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/2836/528010ESW0GRAY1C0disclosed031241101.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y)

10. These circumstances causes "high levels of anxiety, psycho-social distress, poor health and marginalization (World Bank 2011)

11. Azerbaijan now spends 3% of the state budget per year on IDP needs: https://www.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/caucasus/azerbaijan/azerbaijan-s-idp-burden

12. For almost three decades, IDPs and their children have lived with expectations that one day they will be able to return to their homes.

13. Resolutions by numerous int'l organizations (incl. UN, OSCE, CoE ect) have condemned the "ethnic expulsion and the de facto annexation" of Karabakh by Armenian forces (PACE 2005). https://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=17289&lang=en

14. Under principle 18 of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, all IDPs have the right to an adequate standard of living.

15. The Special UN Rapporteur urged the international community and all parties to work towards settlement to "fully restore the human rights of IDPs in Azerbaijan, in particular their right to voluntary return in safety & dignity". https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session29/Documents/A_HRC_29_34_Add_1_en.doc

-END #Karabakh #IDPs