While the number of people fleeing their homes has reached the unprecedented level of 65.6 million persons, there seem to be no solutions in sight for the too many unresolved conflicts that continue to produce displacement and human sufferings, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said on Tuesday.
“While the plight of refugees and migrants makes the headlines, the international community must also keep in mind the millions of internally displaced men, women and children made extremely vulnerable by conflicts and who still find themselves in protracted situations in different corners of the globe,” Mammadyarov said addressing the High-Level Segment entitled “Advancing Mediterranean security and cooperation in an age of large movements of migrants and refugees”, held in the framework of 2017 OSCE Mediterranean Conference, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told APA.
He emphasized that the grave situation of millions of IDPs requires strong attention, the rethinking of approaches to prevention, addressing the root causes as well as concerted action at all levels.
“We believe that the OSCE should be also used as a platform for elaborating a comprehensive OSCE response addressing the protection of the rights of internally displaced persons,” added Mammadyarov.
He noted that Azerbaijan’s sensitivities to IDP’s cause are understandable.
“Displacement in my country is a consequence of the ongoing military aggression and occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and seven other surrounding regions of Azerbaijan by Armenia in blatant violation of international law and the UN Security Council relevant resolutions,” the FM said.
By impudently violating humanitarian law, Armenia carried out ethnic cleansing policy against almost one million Azerbaijani civilians in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and in Armenia itself, Mammadyarov stressed.
“It left Azerbaijan with one of the largest internally displaced population per capita in the world. Currently, the number of IDPs and refugees exceeds 1.2 million as a result of the increase of the displaced population. The only solution to their displacement is the return to their homes in security and dignity and it is the first priority of my government,” he added.
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