Azerbaijan: inhabitants of collapsed hostel complain of absence of state support

The families of forced resettlers, who suffered from collapse of a hostel building complain about absence of assistance from the state.

The collapse of the hostel located at No. 17 Gyandja Avenue occurred on June 30 at 5:30 p.m. and injured five persons, including children. The children received traumas, when the protective coating at the entrance to one of the hostel blocks, which had been in emergency condition, collapsed and fell down.

"The surface, on which we played, suddenly collapsed, and we all fell down. I don't even remember how I was taken to hospital," said Azer Ibragimov, 14.

Azar was in hospital for a month. "Of all the children my little boy suffered most," said Aigyun Ibragimova, the victim's mother. "When he was in hospital, our family bought drugs at our own expense, including bandages and cotton wool. Let Lord punish me, if I lie. It's been about two months ago; however, we received no compensation from the state. On the day of the collapse, some people came, wrote something down and left, saying about compensation without confidence."

The hostel is located in the township of Akhmedly in the outskirts of the city; it is inhabited both by locals and refugees. Initially, this nine-storey building was built for young scientists trained at various universities of the former Soviet Union. In the early 1990s it was occupied by displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh and other invaded territories.

Residents claim that "the government does not care about their life." "We were displaced from our lands here and live in this hostel for 20 years. In the vicinity, there's no playground for children – just a tiny yard; therefore, they play anywhere," said Ibragimova. "There was a small place nearby, but it was transformed into a tea-house. The building is in emergency condition; children swarm everywhere, climb onto the cap in front of the block and ride on bare cables; it's difficult to command and control them."

"Employees of the Baku city electric networks came to repair the mains; turn everything upside down and left bare cables with high voltage. We are not always near our children; therefore new accidents are possible," said Vyazura Muradova, another resident of the emergency hostel.

Elchin Gadimov, the head of the Division of Press and International Relations of Azerbaijani State Committee for Refugees and Displaced Persons, promised, in response to questions, why no compensation had been paid to the families of the victims and what the further fate of the people living in this building would be, to study the matter and submit a written response. However, the official comment from him ever followed. Later, Gadimov said that "the victims in this building were not refugees."