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.