On 8 June, the Azerbaijani news agency Turan reported that Azerbaijani citizens on the Azerbaijani-Russian border in Dagestan had been on a hunger strike for five days because they were unable to return to their country of origin.
A 44-day-old native of Tovuz region, Asim Tagiyev said that the people were living in the open air and in desperation. This led them to start a hunger strike. According to Tagiyev, the number of starving people is 150. “We have one demand: let them open the border so that we return home. Yesterday the starving fell in the rain, and today they are under the scorching sun,” Tagiyev said. He said that at present, 700-800 citizens have gathered near the village of Kullar on the Russian-Azerbaijani border. Many of them have been awaiting transition to Azerbaijan for more than two months.
“There were even more people here, but many were tired of waiting, and they returned back to Russia,” Tagiyev said. According to him, the conditions at the border are unbearable. “We cannot wash, many sleep on the cement. We sleep in the tent only at night, because of the heat it is impossible to stay there during the day,” he added.
Tagiyev also said Azerbaijani officials who recently visited the camp didn't speak to any of the residents. “They looked at us from a distance and didn't even talk to us,” he said.
Representatives of the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan say that the return of citizens from abroad is carried out in stages, when infrastructure is ready and within mandatory quarantine regulations (Caucasus Watch reported). The Azerbaijani government repatriated 130 of its citizens the following day in addition to the 120 citizens which were brought back earlier.
On 18 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin personally intervened in the epidemic sweeping Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, as local officials described the coronavirus situation as a “catastrophe." The alarming situation in Dagestan also raised concerns in Baku. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to give instructions to the relevant ministries and departments of the two countries to quickly work out this issue in cooperation with regional authorities (Caucasus Watch reported). It was foreseen to resolve the issue within 15 days.
The total number of reported Covid-19 cases in Russia stands at 476 658, with Dagestan recording 5970 cases and 308 deaths. In Azerbaijan there were 7876 reported cases and 93 deaths from the virus.
