Camp residents in Kullar criticize the principle of drawing up departure lists

The tent camp in the village of Kullar, where Azerbaijani citizens are waiting for their departure to their homeland, has expanded, same as the spontaneous one around it, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports. Camp tenants said that the departure lists are compiled chaotically; and many old-timers cannot leave even for funerals of their relatives.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that a temporary accommodation centre (TAC) was opened on the border of the Derbent and Magaramkent Districts of Dagestan for the citizens of Azerbaijan who failed to get home due to the border closure. On June 15, a protest action took place in the tent camp, which turned into clashes with law enforcers.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent visited the camp in Kullar on July 8.

The total number of tents both in the Azerbaijani camp section and in the camp set up by the Russian Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) has increased. The spontaneous camp created around the official Russian and Azerbaijani ones has also grown.

Vagif Mursabov, an Azerbaijani citizen, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he had been in the camp for "the second month already." Fifteen days ago, his father died in Azerbaijan, but he failed to say farewell to him; now, the man wants to attend at least the mourning events dedicated to 40 days from the death of his father.

Mr Mursabov has noted that he had to spend ten days in custody after the protest action; and after his release he was promised that he would be included in the nearest departure group, but two groups had already crossed the border, and he still stays in Russia.

He has added that some Azerbaijani citizens arrived at the camp after him; they didn't live in it "even for a week," but were put on the lists and went home. Moreover, he has a friend whose child died in Azerbaijan; forty days have passed, and he still cannot get to his homeland.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 9, 2020 at 03:52 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.