Activists criticize Azerbaijan's authorities for situation in Kullar

The authorities of Azerbaijan are to remove obstacles for the return of citizens from a tent camp in the Dagestani village of Kullar. Meanwhile, the persons arrested after a protest action held on June 15 need effective protection. This has been declared by participants of a videoconference organized by the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety.

Emin Guseinov, the director of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), has noted that the authorities of Azerbaijan failed to ensure a due and complete procedure to return home citizens of the country.

"People arrived at the border at their own expense ... However, they got stuck and live for weeks just several kilometres from the state border. Some of them stay there for several months. In fact, they stay in a field," Emin Guseinov said at the video conference organized on the "sancaq production" page in Facebook.

According to the director of the IRFS, on June 15, a spontaneous protest action near the Kullar village was triggered by "unjust compilation of lists to cross the border." Meanwhile, force was used against the protesters: "about 150 people were beaten."

Emin Guseinov has emphasized that "the tough police operation was made public thanks to independent media." According to the director of the IRFS, there is a response from human rights defenders and advocates from Russia who are ready to help the arrested protestors.

Mekhman Aliev, the director of the "Turan" information agency, notes that the creation of obstacles to the return of Azerbaijani citizens to their homeland contradicts the European Convention on Human Rights.

Arif Mamedov, the former head of the Azerbaijani mission to the EU and the Council of Europe (CE), believes that the authorities of Azerbaijan deliberately create obstacles for the arrival of citizens, fearing "the return of tens of thousands of labour migrants."