Mines contaminated territories of Azerbaijan presented to the UN

More than 13% of Azerbaijan's territory remains contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance, and to date only 24.3% of these areas have been cleared.

As Report informs, this was stated by First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the UN Shahriyar Hajiyev during an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons in the Third Committee of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.

He noted that the mine threat creates serious obstacles to the large-scale restoration and reconstruction work being carried out in the territories liberated from occupation, as well as to the safe return of internally displaced persons to their homeland. Since 2020, more than 400 Azerbaijani citizens, including women and children, have been killed or injured in mine-related incidents.

Shahriyar Hajiyev emphasized that more than $16 billion has been allocated for post-conflict restoration and reconstruction. As part of the Great Return program, approximately 100,000 people are currently living, working, and receiving education in 48 settlements.

The Azerbaijani diplomat stressed the importance of increasing international assistance in eliminating the mine threat and the need to pay attention to the issue of accountability.

In his earlier statement, Hajiyev called on the UN and other relevant international organizations to play a more active role within their mandates in searching for missing persons, facilitating information exchange, developing forensic expertise, and strengthening support for the families of affected individuals.