About 300 Azerbaijanis Stuck on Border from Russian Side

Baku /14.04.20 / Turan: About 300 labor migrants from Azerbaijan cannot return to their homeland and are at the checkpoint near the Magaramkent district in Dagestan. The Azerbaijani border is closed for them until April 20.

Azerbaijan closed borders due to the pandemic. The last group of citizens managed to return to their homeland on April 4.

"The Republic of Azerbaijan is not a poor country. If they didn’t want to let them in, they could set up a camp, give out mattresses and beds, and deploy a field kitchen in the poorly populated place. Or money could be allocated to be placed in one of the empty camp sites. In fact, we see people abandoned to their fate. Those who did not have enough places in the mosque or in the hotel simply stayed to spend the night in a wasteland," writes the website http://kavcomment.ru/.

Many people lose their nerves and some try to break through the checkpoint. Five people have been detained.

“We talked with customs representatives from the Russian Federation. They said they had no complaints, and they didn’t want to detain anyone,” said Arthur Hajiyev, director of the agricultural department of the administration of the Magaramkent district.

“People are different there, from all over the Russian Federation and not only. These are residents and citizens of Azerbaijan. Some of them worked in markets and they have no savings. They lost their jobs,” said the head of Dagestan, Vladimir Vasiliev.

The authorities of Dagestan temporarily placed the residents of Azerbaijan in a mosque and in hotels. They also bring food. Local authorities organized hot meals for them.

According to the press service of the district, Dagestan.ru was informed that the necessary assistance was delivered to people: food, drinking water, blankets and mattresses for the night. 140 people were accommodated in the hotel, with free accommodation and overnight. Food on behalf of the head of the district is delivered daily. The Russian philanthropist Farid Ahmedov incurred financial expenses and organized assistance to the Azerbaijanis.

 “In connection with the Corona Virus, most of the states, including Azerbaijan, have closed their borders. Until April 20, entry into the country is prohibited. In this regard, I urge you not to go to the Russian-Azerbaijani border. Being there, you are creating problems for yourself, the Russian side, the government of Dagestan, and the Azerbaijani side. I beg you not to complicate the situation,” said the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia, Polad Bul Bul Oglu.

Russia and Azerbaijan are negotiating, citizens are asked to be patient and wait until the departure is officially allowed, the Mir television channel said.

Azerbaijani citizens wanted to start a hunger strike, but the leadership of the Magaramkent region dissuaded them. And then what should they do? How reasonable are the actions of the authorities of Russia and Azerbaijan?

The accumulation of such a number of people at the Yarag-Kazmalyar border checkpoint increases the risk of the spread of COVID-19, users in social networks of Dagestan write.   —0—