Landmine Clearance Critical for Return of Displaced Azerbaijanis

Azerbaijan’s government states that extensive landmine contamination is the primary obstacle to the safe return of hundreds of thousands of people displaced by past conflicts. Officials report that more than one million mines litter the territory. Since 2020, clearance teams have made safe only 20% of the total contaminated area. The slow pace of demining, a technical process to remove explosives, severely delays reconstruction and resettlement programs. Azerbaijan is now calling for increased international donor support to accelerate this work. Without faster clearance, the safe repatriation of displaced communities remains a distant goal, the government warns.