Rights defenders criticize authorities for slow return of Azerbaijanis from Russia

There are enough places in the quarantine camp in Azerbaijan to accommodate all those waiting for departure home from Dagestan, the Azerbaijanis who have arrived home assert. The Azerbaijani authorities must organize the unhindered return of their citizens from Kullar, Azerbaijani rights defenders believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that residents of a temporary accommodation centre (TAC) in the form of a tent camp set up near the Dagestan village of Kullar are sent home in groups on the weekly basis. On August 4, 260 Azerbaijani citizens were sent home; and about 250 persons still remained in the tent camp.

All those who arrived in Azerbaijan on August 4 were placed in tents in the quarantine zone organized near the "Samur" border checkpoint, Djafar Seidov, one of the former Kullar camp residents, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"There is such a large tent camp here that apart from our group of 260 people, they could quite easily accommodate as many people here, or maybe even more," Mr Seidov has stated said.

Emin Guseinov, Director of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety of (IRFS), believes that it is unlawful to restrict the passage of citizens of the country to their homeland. "It is one thing when people cannot return to their homeland because of the absence of air flights. But in this case, citizens of Azerbaijan themselves arrived at the land border and cannot cross it for months," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. He sees in it a violation of Point 4 of Article 28 of the Constitution of Azerbaijan, which proclaims that "a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan has the right to freely return to his country at any time."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 6, 2020 at 09:42 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.