Baku - After the Azerbaijan government has relaxed some of its strict quarantine measures and in line with the UNCT guidelines for a phased return to the office, the staff members of the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) project started to provide the counseling sessions and implementation of the reintegration assistance to returnees– the citizens of Azerbaijan who voluntarily returned to the country of origin before the COVID-19 outbreaks. In May, they reached the number of implementation cases/counseling sessions which they had at the beginning of the current year.

During the month of May, the staff members of AVRR held 27 in-person (62 inds benefited), and 12 virtual meetings (26 inds benefited) with returnees and provided up to 31 in-kind (55 inds benefited) assistance. In the specified period, 5 individuals assisted with housing, 1 individual received medical support, 6 individuals assisted with small business, and 19 individuals received material assistance (appliance and basic furniture).

Since February, IOM Azerbaijan assisted 13 individuals with housing, 13 individuals with small businesses, 57 individuals received material assistance (appliance and basic furniture), and 5 individuals received medical support.

Currently, IOM Azerbaijan provides its assistance activities for migrants returned from Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey, and Latvia. One of the main parts of reintegration assistance besides educational activities, temporary housing, is employment or setting-up income-generating activity, e.g., small business for voluntarily returned migrants.

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