For Displaced In Baku, A Factory Is Home
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For some 20 Azerbaijani families, this abandoned factory in Baku has provided a home for most of the past two decades. - Photos by RFE/RL Azerbaijani Service correspondent Abbas Atilay
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The families were displaced from the districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh when war erupted there in the early 1990s. - Armenia and Azerbaijan fought for control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan dominated by ethnic Armenians, from 1991 to 1994. Armenian-backed forces remain in control of the territory and the surrounding districts, and the conflict remains unresolved.
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This factory in Baku, inactive since the Soviet era, provided shelter for ethnic Azeris fleeing the conflict.
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In keeping with a government decree, internally displaced people (IDPs) cannot be evicted from their accommodation.
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For the children growing up here, this is the only home they have ever known.
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Unemployment is a major problem for IDPs, many of whom work part-time in poorly paid constructions jobs.
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The old factory is still equipped with electricity and running water, and most of the children are enrolled in school.
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The wreckage at the site has become a children's playground.
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A cement oven provides warmth in winter...
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...and freshly baked bread.
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The families living here have applied to a refugee agency for assistance, but are still waiting for a response.
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Some homes for IDPs are being built with government funding, but demand is too high to house all the displaced. - Between 800,000 to 1 million Azerbaijanis remain displaced by the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.