BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 3. Azerbaijan's Housing Code will be amended by establishing the permanent settlement fund in the liberated territories, Chairman of the Labour and Social Policy Committee, Musa Guliyev, said at a joint meeting of the parliamentary committees on labor and social policy, human rights, legal policy, and state building, Trend reports.
According to him, a solid legal basis has been created for the implementation of the "1st State Program on the Great Return to the liberated territories of Azerbaijan", relevant amendments have been made to the legislation, a new type of benefit has been established for persons working and residing in Karabakh and East Zangezur, and vacation, tax, social insurance benefits, and privileges have been determined.
He noted that the proposed amendments to the Housing Code, the laws "On the status of refugees and internally displaced persons" and "On social protection of internally displaced persons and persons treated as equal to them" that were put up for discussion today were also prepared with the aim of improving the legal framework for the work done in this area, the resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to residential areas in the liberated territories, ensuring their property rights and improving the legislative acts related to the loss of their IDP status.
Thus, as a result of the amendments to the Housing Code, a new institution - the permanent settlement fund in the liberated territories - will be established, and the settlements included in this fund will be used for the resettlement of IDPs and the transfer of these areas to their ownership.
At the same time, according to the proposed amendments to the law "On the status of refugees and internally displaced persons", the cases of loss of the status of IDPs will also be specified. According to the new proposal, a person will be provided with another place of residence of a certain size in the region where he/she lives instead of the previous place of residence, thus the provision of a new place of residence by the state will serve to fully restore the citizen's property rights. Also, according to the proposed amendment to the aforementioned law, if a person refuses the place of residence offered by the state, he/she will lose his/her status as an IDP.
The committee chairman noted that the draft also clarifies the duration of social protection measures. The calculation of the existing three-year grace period will be determined from the date the person loses his status or refuses housing.
In addition, according to the proposed amendment to Article 5 of the law "On social protection of internally displaced persons and persons treated as equal to them", the mechanism for resettlement of internally displaced persons is also being changed. According to the new rules, the state obligation will be considered fulfilled by offering a place of residence. Thus, a balance will be ensured between the housing rights of IDPs and the interests of third parties.
