Armenian, Azerbaijani citizens repatriated under the auspices of ICRC
An Armenia civilian – a man who had crossed the international border into Azerbaijan on 28 June in 2017 – was repatriated today under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He was handed over to Armenian officials at the international border, on the road between Ijevan in Armenia and Gazakh in Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, an Azerbaijani citizen who had crossed the border of Armenia on March 16 this year was handed over to the Azerbaijani side.
As the International Committee of the Red Cross in Armenia reports in a release, The ICRC, acting as a neutral intermediary, helped the Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities carry out the repatriation. The ICRC representatives visited the detained citizens, including on the eve of the repatriation to assess their treatment and the conditions in which they were being held.
Based on its mandate under the Geneva Conventions, the ICRC has been present in the region since 1992 in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.