Registration problem. Is the government trying to stop migration to the capital with fines?

Baku/25.01.23/Turan: In recent days, the issue of the implementation of the Law "On registration at the place of residence and place of stay" has become the subject of active discussion in social networks. According to information provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, persons who intend to temporarily stay away from their place of residence for more than 60 days are required to notify the police within 7 (seven) working days upon arrival at a new place of residence. Otherwise, by bringing to administrative responsibility, he will be warned and fined 30 manats.

By the way, at the end of last year, the media reported on the raid of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Baku. According to the report, local police officers checked the registration of residents and warned those who were not registered at their place of residence.

After that, both in social networks and in the media, materials with approximately the following headings began to appear - "Those who are not registered at their place of residence will be fined."

The statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs dated January 17 explained the need to register at the place of residence by difficulties in the search for citizens when considering applications related to military mobilization, payment of social benefits, marriage, divorce, and other issues.

Experts believe that this decision is contrary to the Constitution and freedom of movement. It is curious that this issue is on the agenda right now. Why did the government decide to take such a step now? Is it possible that this decision was made to establish control over the movement of the population, to create legal grounds for control over citizens? Another version is that one of the goals is to stop the flow of people from the districts to Baku. By the way, this decision is reminiscent of the restrictions of Soviet times.

Hafiz Hasanov, chairman of the public association Center for Law and Development, shares his thoughts on this topic on the air of the “Difficult Question” program.

He drew attention to the fact that decades have passed since the adoption of the Law (the Law was adopted on April 4, 1996, came into force on January 1, 1997 - ed. note), and they began to apply it quite recently.

“More precisely, earlier this Law was applied partially. The part concerning the registration of citizens at the place of residence was applied. But registration at the place of residence was not applied. Now they are starting to apply it in this part of it too,” Hasanov noted, stressing that he is opposed to the presence in the Law of instructions on registering citizens at the place of stay.

“The right to freedom of movement is valid all over the world. Yes, and our Constitution states that “Everyone who is legally in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan has the right to move freely, choose a place of residence and travel outside the Republic of Azerbaijan” (Article 28, paragraph III),” he stressed.

“The application of residence registration for foreign citizens and stateless persons is logical and understandable. This exists in international practice and is reflected in international conventions. But the application of registration at the place of residence for its own citizens raises questions. Moreover, since the adoption of the Law, there have been no special problems in connection with issues related to the place of residence of citizens,” the lawyer explained.

According to Hasanov, this innovation of the authorities may be due to their desire to keep citizens under tight control, i.e. know who is where and what they are doing. “Most likely this is due to socially active people,” he suggested.

“Another reason for this decision,” the expert believes, “may be the desire to stop the migration from rural areas of the country, from where the villagers who have lost their income rush to large cities, which creates great difficulties. But uncontrolled migration cannot be stopped in this way, it is necessary to solve the problem of unemployment, which is quite acute,” Hasanov said.