Spring
1997 (5.1)
Editorial
Refugees
Revisited
by Betty
Blair
"There
is no greater sorrow on earth than the loss of one's native land."
Euripides
431 B.C.
The world's population
is now 5.7 billion people, they tell us. And in this
vast sea of humanity, 27 million people have been forced off
the land they consider as home. Some have escaped terror and
bloodshed by crossing geographical borders. Others, like the
Azerbaijanis, have been shoved into the corners of their own
countries, adding tremendous strain on limited resources, especially
land, shelter, infrastructure, jobs and access to education.
Despite how staggering the thought of 27 million displaced people
is, the figure represents less than 1/2 percent of the world's
total population.
But
in Azerbaijan, the story is far more tragic. The number of people
who have had to abandon their homes due to the war with Armenians
over Nagorno-Karabakh approaches 1 million-13 percent of Azerbaijan's
7.5 million citizens. This means that Azerbaijan is bearing the
burden of nearly 4 percent of the entire world's displaced population-an
extraordinarily high ratio for a country no larger than the size
of Austria or the state of Maine.
The first wave
of refugees in 1988 were mostly Azerbaijanis who had been living
in Armenia for all their lives. A year later, the Meskheti Turks
sought refuge in Azerbaijan from ethnic clashes in Uzbekistan
[see page 62]. Both these displacements, totaling approximately
250,000 people, occurred when Azerbaijan was still part of the
Soviet Union.
But after the
Soviet collapse in late 1991, Armenians began systematically
expelling Azerbaijanis from the enclave of Karabakh - despite
the fact that this territory belonged to Azerbaijan and was significantly
populated with Azerbaijanis who had been living there for centuries.
It's true that
the majority of the population was Armenian when trouble started
brewing in Karabakh. Many of them are descended from settlers
that Russia brought to Karabakh from regions outside of the Caucasus
in the first half of the 19th century.
By late 1992
and early 1993, Karabakh was flushed of all Azerbaijanis-known
in the media as "ethnic cleansing." Those who did not
leave were either killed or taken as hostages (some of whom have
yet to be released).
Photos by Oleg Litvin
Then
the Armenian military pushed beyond to regions outside Karabakh
- allegedly to create a "buffer zone" for themselves
but more likely to deal a stronger hand at the bargaining table.
They did not stop until they had seized 20 percent of Azerbaijan's
territory and displaced hundreds of thousands of more people.
A tenuous cease-fire was signed in May 1994. But Azerbaijan wants
its land back and its people returned to their homes.
One out of every seven
Azerbaijanis are refugees.
It boggles the
mind to think what chaos would result in our own countries if
nearly one out of every seven individuals were to be totally
stripped from their sources of income, their land and everything
they possessed. Even in countries with highly sophisticated infrastructures,
human services would be hard pressed under such circumstances.
Photos: Left: by Elnur Babayev.
Right, by Betty Blair
How
much more difficult it is for a fledgling country like Azerbaijan,
struggling to shed a centralized Soviet system and adopt a market
economy, to deal with this crisis. Skeptics will counter that
Azerbaijan is potentially one of the richest countries in the
world and that they should be able to handle this disaster without
international assistance. But the oil has not yet begun flowing
to foreign markets, and the survival of nearly 1 million people
cannot wait until then.
Despite the
enormity of Azerbaijan's refugee problem, the world knows relatively
little about it. That's why we've decided to focus on this topic
for the second time [see AI 2.1, January 1994, "Winter of
Disbelief" on the Web]. This is our fifth year of publication,
and we have never repeated a theme. But this subject just doesn't
go away. Usually, we focus on the positive efforts that are being
put forth to strengthen Azerbaijan, but the tremendous amount
of human suffering that is going on cannot be overlooked.
Not a Religious Conflict
One of the reasons
the West knows so little about this problem can be attributed
to the media. The Western press has a tendency to categorize
the Karabakh war as a religious conflict. In nearly every article
they've inserted a tiny "canned" paragraph, often no
longer than three or four lines, informing the reader that this
conflict is being waged between "Christian Armenians"
and "Muslim Azerbaijanis."
Life in Azerbaijani Refugeee
camps. Photos by Oleg Litvin
These
words, seemingly so innocuous, serve Armenians well. True, they
do represent the traditional tendencies of both countries. Yet,
given their Soviet heritage, both countries are actually quite
secular in practice when it comes to commitments of belief and
faith-Azerbaijanis being more secular than Armenians.
However, the
underlying implication suggests that the war stems from deep-seated
ideological differences. For many Westerners in search of simplistic
explanations, no other discussion is necessary; they already
know who the "bad guys" are. Few care to probe deeper
to ascertain the truth.
Azerbaijanis
would argue that religious or ethnic differences are not central
to the conflict at all. Instead, they see the war as a calculated
act of aggression by Armenians simply to annex Azerbaijan's territory
(Nagorno-Karabakh).
Land Grab
Armenia is actually
quite small, comparable to the size of Maryland, one of the smallest
U.S. states. Armenia's land is mostly rugged and mountainous.
In contrast, Karabakh has fertile soil and is rich in minerals,
particularly gold. If Armenia annexed the 20 percent of Azerbaijan's
territory which they now occupy, Armenia would nearly double
its size.
Left: Armenian attack on an
Azerbaijani school. Photo Oleg Litvin
Right: Best of friends, Azerbaijani
boys in Refugee camp run by Turkish community. Photo: Blair
Ever
since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia, with its population
of slightly more than 3 million people, has been living on international
dole. The United States, alone, has granted enormous sums to
Armenia-per capita the aid is second only to Israel. Since 1992,
they have received $619 million. Nor does this enormous amount
include financial aid sent to Armenia from the Armenian Diaspora,
from Russia, Iran, Europe and the United Nations. In comparison,
the U.S. has directed only $92 million (through nongovernmental
agencies) to Azerbaijan, which has a population of 7.5 million
people of whom 1 million are displaced.
Economic Development
Important for all the Caucasus
This is a historical
moment in the Caucasus as these nations transition from socialist
structures to democracy and market economies. Armenian extremists
are missing the point and being shortsighted about the long-term
development of their country. In their stubbornness and intransigence,
they are losing their chances to be involved with the tremendous
economic growth that is taking place all around them due to the
resources of Azerbaijan. Cooperation, not confrontation, is the
key to development and survival in this region. How long can
a nation survive, living on handouts, looting and stealing the
lands and possessions of others?
Azerbaijanis fleeing Kelbajar,
1993
Everyday realities - when the tents ran out, refugees made shelters
of reeds.
Photo Oleg Litvin.
Often,
the international community views religious conflicts as too
complex to resolve from the outside. Perhaps unconsciously, the
assumption is made that the warring parties should be left to
stew in the mess they've created for themselves because nobody
else can really bail them out anyway.
Despite such
attitudes, international humanitarian agencies are aware of the
true situation and have tirelessly sacrificed to help Azerbaijan
through this crisis despite limited resources and personnel.
Their work has made an incredible difference. Many refugees owe
their lives to this generosity, and Azerbaijan authorities are
among the first to admit their tremendous contributions [see
Relief Agencies, page 74].
In preparation
for this issue of our magazine, I recently spent time living
in the camps with the refugees. There's hardly a single Azerbaijani
who doesn't desperately want to go back to his homeland. People
talk about it all the time. They'll tell you, "All we want
is to go back and find the tree that we used to sit under. These
are the worst years of our lives." Or "If only I could
go back and stand out on my balcony, I could die the next day."
But realistically,
returning home will not happen any time soon for the majority
of the refugees. Those heavily involved in the relief process
believe that even if a peace agreement were signed tomorrow,
it would take five years or more before most could be resettled.
The conflict region is thickly seeded with land mines which must
be cleared-a very dangerous and exorbitantly expensive process.
Then, reconstruction must take place as most homes have been
completely destroyed. But still, most Azerbaijani refugees are
convinced that their wish to return home is not a fantasy and
that it will happen eventually - with the help of God and Aliyev.
Zbigniew Brzezinski,
former head of the U.S. National Security Council under President
Carter, visited some of the camps in Azerbaijan in 1995. He observed
that the conditions there were "inhumane"-even worse
than what he had seen in either Afghanistan or Palestine.
Year after Year
Not much has
changed two years later, except that mud brick shelters, pre-fabs
and limestone block houses have replaced the tattered and weather-worn
tents. Sanitation is still problematic; too many people have
to share too few public facilities. Scabies, a skin infestation
aggravated by the lack of sanitation, is widespread, especially
during the summer months. Running water is only available a few
hours of the day in many camps. Hot showers are almost non-existent.
The low marshlands
on which many of the camps are built are swollen with mosquitoes
in summer. Last year, hundreds of cases of malaria were reported.
This year, there's likely to be more.
Food rations
have diminished after four years of living in the camps. These
days, too many meals consist only of bread and tea. Some families
are too poor even to buy kerosene needed to cook their food and
are left to wander in search of dried sheep dung to burn as fuel.
Lack of Education
Despite all
the physical, economic and health challenges that refugees face, the
greatest tragedy of all relates to the children. Their bright eyes
and quick smiles belie the reality of their plight. Simply put,
the refugee experience is jeopardizing their chances to receive
an education. This dilemma is especially troubling for parents,
of whom 99 percent are literate. How painful for them to see
their 9- and 10-year-old children barely able to read simply
because there are so few books. Even the new alphabet adopted
in late 1991 works to the disadvantage of refugee children. Very
few texts have been reprinted, especially beyond the early primer
stages.
Tragically,
the children are falling through the cracks. It's one of the
most serious problems that Azerbaijan faces. This nation, in
its effort to become an independent country, cannot afford to
lose this young generation by allowing refugee children to become
marginalized. Every effort must be made to incorporate them into
the mainstream community.
To facilitate
this process, it is important that the Azerbaijan government
give serious thought to dismantling the larger camps. Problems
are so overwhelmingly difficult that residents living there can
barely manage to deal with their own personal needs, much less
work for the betterment of the group. Such camps also serve as
breeding grounds for the discontented and for foreign fundamentalist
movements. They are potential bomb shells that will likely flare
up in political and social unrest if people are not relocated
into smaller, more manageable and more self-reliant, self-sustaining
communities. And the sooner, the better.
To this end,
some humanitarian agencies are beginning to relocate some of
the most vulnerable groups of refugees to significantly smaller
settlements that are just now being constructed. And in the process,
possibilities are opening up to build limestone block schools
and community centers as these new settlements are being developed
and the construction crews are still on site. But funds are desperately
needed to accomplish these "frills," or it won't happen.
For only $2,000, donors can "Adopt a School" through
Relief International and UNHCR and even have their name put on
it. This is only one of the many creative ways possible for private
individuals, cultural societies and businesses to get involved.
The Azeri word
for refugee is "gachgin," meaning "runner."
The term implies that there is no rest for them--no security,
no refuge from the pain. We all need to work tirelessly to make
this tragic period pass as quickly as possible so that these
"runners" can soon be relieved of their agony and misery--especially
the children. The term, "refugee" needs to be perceived
as a transitional period, not a situation in which you have to
spend the rest of your entire life.
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Photos by Oleg Litvin
Then the Armenian military pushed beyond to regions outside Karabakh - allegedly to create a "buffer zone" for themselves but more likely to deal a stronger hand at the bargaining table. They did not stop until they had seized 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory and displaced hundreds of thousands of more people. A tenuous cease-fire was signed in May 1994. But Azerbaijan wants its land back and its people returned to their homes.
One out of every seven Azerbaijanis are refugees.
It boggles the
mind to think what chaos would result in our own countries if
nearly one out of every seven individuals were to be totally
stripped from their sources of income, their land and everything
they possessed. Even in countries with highly sophisticated infrastructures,
human services would be hard pressed under such circumstances.
| |
|
Photos: Left: by Elnur Babayev. Right, by Betty Blair
How much more difficult it is for a fledgling country like Azerbaijan, struggling to shed a centralized Soviet system and adopt a market economy, to deal with this crisis. Skeptics will counter that Azerbaijan is potentially one of the richest countries in the world and that they should be able to handle this disaster without international assistance. But the oil has not yet begun flowing to foreign markets, and the survival of nearly 1 million people cannot wait until then.
Despite the enormity of Azerbaijan's refugee problem, the world knows relatively little about it. That's why we've decided to focus on this topic for the second time [see AI 2.1, January 1994, "Winter of Disbelief" on the Web]. This is our fifth year of publication, and we have never repeated a theme. But this subject just doesn't go away. Usually, we focus on the positive efforts that are being put forth to strengthen Azerbaijan, but the tremendous amount of human suffering that is going on cannot be overlooked.
Not a Religious Conflict
One of the reasons
the West knows so little about this problem can be attributed
to the media. The Western press has a tendency to categorize
the Karabakh war as a religious conflict. In nearly every article
they've inserted a tiny "canned" paragraph, often no
longer than three or four lines, informing the reader that this
conflict is being waged between "Christian Armenians"
and "Muslim Azerbaijanis."
|
|
|
|
Life in Azerbaijani Refugeee camps. Photos by Oleg Litvin
These words, seemingly so innocuous, serve Armenians well. True, they do represent the traditional tendencies of both countries. Yet, given their Soviet heritage, both countries are actually quite secular in practice when it comes to commitments of belief and faith-Azerbaijanis being more secular than Armenians.
However, the underlying implication suggests that the war stems from deep-seated ideological differences. For many Westerners in search of simplistic explanations, no other discussion is necessary; they already know who the "bad guys" are. Few care to probe deeper to ascertain the truth.
Azerbaijanis would argue that religious or ethnic differences are not central to the conflict at all. Instead, they see the war as a calculated act of aggression by Armenians simply to annex Azerbaijan's territory (Nagorno-Karabakh).
Land Grab
Armenia is actually
quite small, comparable to the size of Maryland, one of the smallest
U.S. states. Armenia's land is mostly rugged and mountainous.
In contrast, Karabakh has fertile soil and is rich in minerals,
particularly gold. If Armenia annexed the 20 percent of Azerbaijan's
territory which they now occupy, Armenia would nearly double
its size.
| |
|
Left: Armenian attack on an Azerbaijani school. Photo Oleg Litvin
Right: Best of friends, Azerbaijani
boys in Refugee camp run by Turkish community. Photo: Blair
Ever
since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia, with its population
of slightly more than 3 million people, has been living on international
dole. The United States, alone, has granted enormous sums to
Armenia-per capita the aid is second only to Israel. Since 1992,
they have received $619 million. Nor does this enormous amount
include financial aid sent to Armenia from the Armenian Diaspora,
from Russia, Iran, Europe and the United Nations. In comparison,
the U.S. has directed only $92 million (through nongovernmental
agencies) to Azerbaijan, which has a population of 7.5 million
people of whom 1 million are displaced.
Economic Development Important for all the Caucasus
This is a historical
moment in the Caucasus as these nations transition from socialist
structures to democracy and market economies. Armenian extremists
are missing the point and being shortsighted about the long-term
development of their country. In their stubbornness and intransigence,
they are losing their chances to be involved with the tremendous
economic growth that is taking place all around them due to the
resources of Azerbaijan. Cooperation, not confrontation, is the
key to development and survival in this region. How long can
a nation survive, living on handouts, looting and stealing the
lands and possessions of others?
|
|
Azerbaijanis fleeing Kelbajar, 1993
Everyday realities - when the tents ran out, refugees made shelters of reeds.
Photo Oleg Litvin.
Often, the international community views religious conflicts as too complex to resolve from the outside. Perhaps unconsciously, the assumption is made that the warring parties should be left to stew in the mess they've created for themselves because nobody else can really bail them out anyway.
Despite such attitudes, international humanitarian agencies are aware of the true situation and have tirelessly sacrificed to help Azerbaijan through this crisis despite limited resources and personnel. Their work has made an incredible difference. Many refugees owe their lives to this generosity, and Azerbaijan authorities are among the first to admit their tremendous contributions [see Relief Agencies, page 74].
In preparation for this issue of our magazine, I recently spent time living in the camps with the refugees. There's hardly a single Azerbaijani who doesn't desperately want to go back to his homeland. People talk about it all the time. They'll tell you, "All we want is to go back and find the tree that we used to sit under. These are the worst years of our lives." Or "If only I could go back and stand out on my balcony, I could die the next day."
But realistically, returning home will not happen any time soon for the majority of the refugees. Those heavily involved in the relief process believe that even if a peace agreement were signed tomorrow, it would take five years or more before most could be resettled. The conflict region is thickly seeded with land mines which must be cleared-a very dangerous and exorbitantly expensive process. Then, reconstruction must take place as most homes have been completely destroyed. But still, most Azerbaijani refugees are convinced that their wish to return home is not a fantasy and that it will happen eventually - with the help of God and Aliyev.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, former head of the U.S. National Security Council under President Carter, visited some of the camps in Azerbaijan in 1995. He observed that the conditions there were "inhumane"-even worse than what he had seen in either Afghanistan or Palestine.
Year after Year
Not much has changed two years later, except that mud brick shelters, pre-fabs and limestone block houses have replaced the tattered and weather-worn tents. Sanitation is still problematic; too many people have to share too few public facilities. Scabies, a skin infestation aggravated by the lack of sanitation, is widespread, especially during the summer months. Running water is only available a few hours of the day in many camps. Hot showers are almost non-existent.
The low marshlands on which many of the camps are built are swollen with mosquitoes in summer. Last year, hundreds of cases of malaria were reported. This year, there's likely to be more.
Food rations have diminished after four years of living in the camps. These days, too many meals consist only of bread and tea. Some families are too poor even to buy kerosene needed to cook their food and are left to wander in search of dried sheep dung to burn as fuel.
Lack of Education
Despite all the physical, economic and health challenges that refugees face, the greatest tragedy of all relates to the children. Their bright eyes and quick smiles belie the reality of their plight. Simply put, the refugee experience is jeopardizing their chances to receive an education. This dilemma is especially troubling for parents, of whom 99 percent are literate. How painful for them to see their 9- and 10-year-old children barely able to read simply because there are so few books. Even the new alphabet adopted in late 1991 works to the disadvantage of refugee children. Very few texts have been reprinted, especially beyond the early primer stages.
Tragically, the children are falling through the cracks. It's one of the most serious problems that Azerbaijan faces. This nation, in its effort to become an independent country, cannot afford to lose this young generation by allowing refugee children to become marginalized. Every effort must be made to incorporate them into the mainstream community.
To facilitate this process, it is important that the Azerbaijan government give serious thought to dismantling the larger camps. Problems are so overwhelmingly difficult that residents living there can barely manage to deal with their own personal needs, much less work for the betterment of the group. Such camps also serve as breeding grounds for the discontented and for foreign fundamentalist movements. They are potential bomb shells that will likely flare up in political and social unrest if people are not relocated into smaller, more manageable and more self-reliant, self-sustaining communities. And the sooner, the better.
To this end, some humanitarian agencies are beginning to relocate some of the most vulnerable groups of refugees to significantly smaller settlements that are just now being constructed. And in the process, possibilities are opening up to build limestone block schools and community centers as these new settlements are being developed and the construction crews are still on site. But funds are desperately needed to accomplish these "frills," or it won't happen. For only $2,000, donors can "Adopt a School" through Relief International and UNHCR and even have their name put on it. This is only one of the many creative ways possible for private individuals, cultural societies and businesses to get involved.
The Azeri word
for refugee is "gachgin," meaning "runner."
The term implies that there is no rest for them--no security,
no refuge from the pain. We all need to work tirelessly to make
this tragic period pass as quickly as possible so that these
"runners" can soon be relieved of their agony and misery--especially
the children. The term, "refugee" needs to be perceived
as a transitional period, not a situation in which you have to
spend the rest of your entire life.
Home
| About
Azeri | Learn
Azeri | Arabic
Script | Store | Contact
us
Articles from Azerbaijan
International
© Azerbaijan International. Copyright 2002. All rights reserved.