The Mirzoyev family of refugees lost their home after refusing to pay a bribe. The family purchased a house in the Sabunchu Settlement in 2008. The Mirzoyevs filed for a municipal permit to remodel the house, which was falling apart, to accommodate their expanding family. After refusing to pay a hefty bribe, they saw their own house demolished. “They came to take the house down with heavy equipment. There were around 40 men, as if they came to reclaim Karabakh,” a family member recalls. Their home was destroyed by men wearing “black masks” and allegedly working for the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR). The family lodged multiple complaints, but to no avail.
“If they do not take responsibility for these internally displaced people, will those same refugees later care about the motherland?” one of them wonders.
“If they did not protect our nation and filled their pockets with people’s money, then at least let these people’s children grow up and study and protect the nation. He is going to become a soldier and protect the nation. How will it all happen? Will a child who grows up and sees all this injustice later choose to protect his nation?”
