Armenian ministry of labor and social affairs developing social package for people who returned from Azerbaijani captivity

YEREVAN, May 5. /ARKA/. The Armenian Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is developing a social package for people who have returned from Azerbaijani captivity, the acting minister Narek Mkrtchyan said today.

According to him, this social package will help these people with career guidance, employment, as well as health problems.

"There is a lot of evidence that during their captivity these people have developed health problems. The package will solve this problem too," he said.

The number of Armenian POWs still in custody in Azerbaijan remains unclear. By the end of February 2021, Armenia’s Representative Office at the European Court of Human Rights had asked the court to intervene with Azerbaijan regarding 240 cases of alleged prisoners of war and civilian detainees.

In approximately 90 percent of those cases, the office said, they had provided photo and/or video evidence confirming that Azerbaijani forces had taken these people into custody. 

Azerbaijan has returned so far 72 POWs and civilians. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that his government has returned all the POWs to Armenia but was still holding approximately 60 people as terrorism suspects. Human Rights Watch is not in a position to verify the claims by Azerbaijan or Armenia about the numbers of people remaining in custody or their status. -0-