WFP

In Depth

RISKING LIFE AND LIMB TO RECLAIM THE LAND: DE-MINING IN AZERBAIJAN

Ten years after the Azeri-Armenian conflict ended, an area of Azerbaijan estimated to be as large as 830 million square metres is still contaminated by landmines, and the number of ordnance victims continues to cliimb. Adil Aslanov explains why he is risking life and limb to reclaim the land.

Near Horadiz, the last border town before reaching the occupied Fizuli district, the land is lush with vegetation but the marks of battle are everywhere.

Signs along the road warn of landmines as yet uncovered. The skeletal remains of destroyed buildings and factories are a reminder of the war fought here.

MINE ACTION

Adil Aslanov is a member of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action, popularly known as ANAMA.

Set up by the United Nations Development Programme in 1999, ANAMA has already cleared 14.3 million square metres of agricultural land.

“We couldn’t do this without the help of the UN,” stresses Aslanov.

EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCES

But much more remains to be done. The total area contaminated with explosive ordnances is estimated to be as large as 830 million square metres, and the number of victims continues to climb.

To date, more than 400 civilians and countless animals have lost their lives to landmines.

DE-MINING

Nearly all of those employed by ANAMA are displaced people like Aslanov, who has been working as a de-miner since 2000.

“The work is dangerous and not well paid, but we do it because this is our land and we are working to get it back,” he explains.

As he talks he is watching intently as a team of de-miners and dogs gently cover the surface of a nearby field.

FORMER ACCOUNTANT

Aslanov was an accountant when the Armenian tanks rolled into Fizuli.

“When I heard shots fired, I ran out of the house and saw the tanks. At first I thought they were from the Azerbaijani military and then I saw they were Armenians," he remembers.

FIRED ON AS THEY FLED

"I ran indoors, rounded up my parents and wife and jumped into the car. We were fired on as we were fleeing.

"It’s amazing we were not hit. I guess God had it in mind that we should escape and live,” he recalls, shuddering still at the close brush with death.

MILITARY OUTPOST

Today, Aslanov spends his days a mere four kilometres from the nearest Armenian military outpost with his team of de-miners.

As the land is cleared, there is hope that the truce that has stopped the fighting will lead to a peace that will end the war.

“We just want to go home,” says Aslanov. “If we can go home, everything will be alright.”

Tales from limbo

Introduction

Adil Garayev's story

Miriam's story

Adil Aslanov's story

Nana's story

Displaced in Azerbaijan

According to WFP's Food Security and Nutrition Report, some 400,000 to 600,000 rural Azerbaijanis face food insecurity, and nearly 300,000 of the 800,000 Azerbaijanis displaced by the conflict with Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno Karabakh are likely to continue to rely on food aid for the foreseeable future.

The report covered around 3,500 households in six of the country’s ten economic zones, including the mountainous regions of Lankaran Astara in the south and Ganja Gazakh in the west, both of which border Nagorno Karabakh.

Since leaving Nagorno Karabakh 12 years ago, many displaced Azerbaijanis still live in sub-standard conditions and have severely limited assets.

Only 40 percent of the households covered by the survey have access to agricultural land, and in all instances most of the produce grown was for family subsistence.

An overwhelming majority are heavily dependent on the government’s monthly allowance of US$6, and nearly 90 percent purchase food on credit or borrowed money.

Despite receiving food aid, the bulk of additional expenditures are on food or medical care, and more than half of the families have at least one member suffering from a chronic illness, the report said.

The survey also found that children living in rural areas were likely to be born malnourished, with about one in five described as being "smaller than normal" or "very small" at birth.

More than 30 percent of rural children under the age of five were stunted, ranging from about 25 percent in the central region of Orta Kur to 40 percent in Daglig Shirvan, where nine percent of women of reproductive age were malnourished.

Micronutrient deficiencies are also problematic in rural areas, with 25 percent of the households reporting goitre problems among family members and only two-thirds of the sample households adequately using iodized salt.

Contact Info

For more information please contact:

Khaled Mansour
WFP/Cairo
Tel: +202 7545045
khaled.mansour@wfp.org

Mia Turner
WFP/Cairo
Tel: +202 7545045
mia.turner@wfp.org