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A PAINFUL LIMBO: DISPLACED AZERBAIJANIS TELL THEIR STORIES


More than ten years after the Azeri-Armenian conflict came to an end, there are still 800,000 displaced people and refugees in Azerbaijan - one of the largest groups of internally displaced people in the world in per capita terms.

The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the mountainous enclave of Nagorno Karabakh was a front-page story; journalists flocked to cover it and the international community united to resolve it.

After more than five years of intermittent fighting, the war dragged to a halt in 1994 with a ceasefire but no peace settlement. As a result, the people it displaced still live in a painful limbo, no longer the focus of the world’s attention.

Here, four of them tell their stories to WFP public information officer Mia Turner.

Adil Garayev's Story

Adil Garayev lives with his family in carriage 240 on Track 12, outside the railway station in Imishli. They have been living here since 1993, when Armenian troops forced them to flee Horovly village in the now occupied Jabrayil district.

Miriam's Story

Born and bred in Fizuli camp, 10-year-old Miriam is small for her age, like many of the children in this settlement for displaced people. Both her parents are ill, and with little chance of employment or further education, her future looks bleak.

Adil Aslanov's Story

Adil Aslanov is a member of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action, popularly known as ANAMA, and has been working to remove landmines 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.

Nana's story

“Nana” (grandmother) has been living in a dugout on a dusty plain in a remote part of Azerbaijan since 1992. Her home is part of a settlement in which the houses are holes in the ground, covered with sticks, plastic or cardboard.



Tales from limbo
Introduction
Adil Garayev's story

Miriam's story

Adil Aslanov's story
Nana's story