Parliament: Foreign aid to Azerbaijan in demining insufficient

Foreign assistance to Azerbaijan in the field of demining is at an insufficient level, reads the declaration of the Azerbaijani Parliament on the occasion of April 4 - International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, Report informs.

It is noted that Azerbaijan has faced a serious problem of contamination of its territories with mines and unexploded ordnance as a result of 30 years of military occupation by Armenia: "Armenia has contaminated more than 13% of Azerbaijan's territory with 1.5 million mines, this problem poses a serious threat to the civilian population, hinders socio-economic development, restoration of liberated territories and the safe return of former internally displaced persons. Eliminating the large-scale destruction and mine problem in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan requires enormous resources."

The statement emphasizes that the mines were installed without the markings provided for by international norms, and in most cases without any military necessity: "After the end of hostilities, Armenia did not fulfill its obligation to provide Azerbaijan with accurate maps of minefields and continued to lay mines on the territory of Azerbaijan. All this proves that Armenia's main goal in laying mines was to cause casualties among the civilian population, create obstacles for restoration work and the return of former internally displaced persons to their homes."

It is noted that after the end of the war in 2020, 388 citizens of Azerbaijan were injured as a result of mine explosions, most of them civilians.

The Azerbaijani Parliament calls on the international community to put pressure on Armenia to recognize its responsibility for the occupation of Azerbaijani territories and provide Azerbaijan with accurate maps of minefields, as well as to increase assistance to Azerbaijan in the field of demining.