Paper notes growing number of Azeri asylum-seekers in Europe

Ekho, Baku
7 Dec 04 p 3

A total of 30 per cent of asylum-seekers in Sweden are citizens of
Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho has quoted Swedish sources
as saying. The paper backed up its report by comments from well-known
rights campaigner Eldar Zeynalov who said that most of them are
complaining about persecution by the authorities after participating
in the October 2003 election demonstrations in Baku. The flow of
appeals has really increased, and not only to Sweden, but also to
other European countries, he said. In turn, another campaigner Azar
Allahveranov pointed out that many of these people are often Armenians,
Jews and Russians who used to live in Azerbaijan, moved to other
countries and have now decided to try their luck in Sweden. Therefore,
it is impossible to regard these people as citizens who have lived in
Azerbaijan over the last 10 years, Allahveranov said. The following is
the text of N. Aliyev and R. Orucov report by Azerbaijani newspaper
Ekho on 7 December headlined “Every third refugee in Sweden is
a citizen of Azerbaijan” and subheaded “The state bodies have no
information about that”; subheadings have been inserted editorially:

Azerbaijani asylum-seekers in Sweden

Well-informed sources in Sweden have told Ekho about interesting
statistics for Azerbaijani refugees in that country. As has become
clear, this year Sweden registered a serious influx of people wishing
to receive refugee status. According to Swedish officials, this year
Azerbaijani citizens accounted for 30 per cent of all people seeking
asylum in this Scandinavian country. The source did not cite specific
figures, however, Tahir Haciyev, head of the western Europe sector of
the Azerbaijani state committee for Azerbaijanis living abroad, told
Ekho that “only 585 citizens of Azerbaijan have been granted asylum
and the right of abode in Sweden throughout the period of the country’s
independence”. The official does not have information about any growth
in the number of Azerbaijani citizens seeking asylum in Sweden.

The subject of Azerbaijani refugees is being actively discussed in the
Swedish media as well. The papers are describing the fate of a Rafiq
Sirinov. He failed to find his feet in Sweden and was deported to
Azerbaijan on 21 August this year. According to information received
by the Swedish press, Sirinov was arrested immediately after arriving
in Azerbaijan and died of a heart attack two days later.

Oestgoeta Correspondenten newspaper quoted an Azerbaijani refugee,
a Masuma Mammadova, as saying on 16 October that Rafiq Sirinov was
arrested at the airport and then killed.

On the whole, the refugees living in Sweden maintain that at Baku
airport there is a special department dealing with Azerbaijani citizens
deported from abroad.

Well-known rights campaigner Eldar Zeynalov has information about the
growth in the number of appeals to the Swedish authorities. “Most of
our countrymen complain about persecution by the authorities after
participating in last year’s October events after the presidential
elections [post-elections riots]. The flow of appeals has really
increased, and not only to Sweden, but also to other European
countries, and they are linked exactly with this reason.” According
to Zeynalov, about 800-900 citizens of Azerbaijan sought asylum in
European countries in 2004, which is above the medium limit. “Although
I cannot guarantee that these people have gone to Europe because they
were persecuted in Azerbaijan.”

Changing dynamics

In turn, Azar Allahveranov, head of the migration resource centre,
drew attention to the fact that the reported number of refugees
from Azerbaijan might not even correspond to the real state of
affairs. “Among these people there are often many Armenians who used
to live in Azerbaijan. In all the documents of Sweden’s immigration
services they are listed as refugees from Azerbaijan. Respectively,
there is an impression in Europe that a great number of immigrants
are coming from Azerbaijan.”

The expert said their organization polls the population twice a
year in order to find our the general dynamics of immigration moods
in society. “According to the results of the polls conducted in the
last three or four years, the tendency is falling. There are various
reasons for that. For example, European countries are toughening their
immigration laws and it is becoming more and more difficult to get
refugee status. In the first quarter of 2004, there were slightly
more people wishing to leave the country. Our polls are conducted
among about 200 people, and if such moods were common among about
40-50 of them, their number is much smaller now.”

Experts also found out the causes of the changing dynamics of moods –
“the respondents said that the economy of society is gradually being
reformed, new jobs are being created and there is some political
stability”.

According to Allahveranov, most of those who appeal to the Swedish
authorities under the guise of Azerbaijani citizens are “Armenians,
Jews and, in some cases, Russians who first moved to Russia and other
countries and then decided to try their luck in Sweden. That’s to say,
it is impossible to regard these people as citizens who have lived
in Azerbaijan over the last 10 years.”