AZE.US
A family with four children is living in a makeshift wooden shelter without electricity, gas or running water in Baku’s Surakhani District.
The family has settled in a yard on Sabalan Gafarov Street, where the only visible boundary is a damaged metal gate. The father, 53-year-old Nazim Ismayilov, built a small wooden shack in the middle of the property with money he managed to save from temporary work.
Ismayilov said he works as a welder and construction laborer during the day, repairing metal gates and rusted vehicle parts. At night, he collects scrap metal from the streets and sells it to support his family.
The family has no pension, social allowance or other regular source of financial assistance and largely relies on help from neighbors.
According to Ismayilov, he has repeatedly appealed to government agencies for support but has so far been unable to resolve the family’s housing problem.
For several years, the family lived in vacant homes in Bina, looking after the properties for their owners in exchange for accommodation. Ismayilov owns a six-sot land plot, equivalent to about 600 square meters, but says he cannot afford to build a house there.
The family’s eldest child is 17 and has an intellectual disability, while the other three children are younger. The father said the children are not officially registered at a permanent address, preventing them from attending kindergarten and accessing some public services.
The Surakhani District Executive Authority said it was aware of the family’s situation and had met with them several times. Officials reportedly offered to place the children temporarily in a shelter until suitable housing could be arranged, but the parents refused to be separated from them.
Following media coverage of the case, representatives of the Social Services Agency under Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Labor and Social Protection met with the family.
The agency said it would begin assessing the family’s living conditions at the start of the next working week. Further assistance will be considered based on the results of the review.
AZE.US