03 May 2021, 23:53
Karabakh refugees demand help from Armenian government
Today, refugees from the Kashatag District have held a protest action in front of the Armenian government building. The protestors demand to fulfil the decisions on assistance to forced migrants already approved by the government.
The “Caucasian Knot” has reported the refugees complain that the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh provided temporary housing to refugees from the territories that had come under the control of Azerbaijan, but there are delays with the provision of permanent housing.
According to the statistics service, up to 150,000 people lived in Nagorno-Karabakh before the autumn 2020 war. After the war, up to 40,000 people became forced migrants, and of them, 25,000 stay in Armenia. Forced migrants face difficulties with finding rental housing or a place in a hotel, and not all of them can prove their right to receive social assistance. Among their problems, the refugees mentioned the absence of job and money.
In the course of the protest rally, Mariam Airapetyan, the former secretary of the Mayoralty in Midjavan of the Kashatag District, has stated that the decisions made by the government are not being implemented. “In the southern part of the Kashatag District, all people are forced migrants, who shed their blood and sweat for 30 years, built houses, and then women left the area with a handful of clothes. And now, the authorities are trying to convince those people to go to work the land in the border villages of Martakert. The authorities promise only to build house for them, and nothing more,” said Mariam Airapetyan as quoted by the “News.Am”.
Anush Petrosyan, a former resident of Kashatag, whose son did not return from the war, claims that she still has not received aid in the amount of 68,000 drams (about 130 US dollars). “I have lost my home, a roof over my head, and there is nothing left,” the woman said.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 3, 2021 at 03:54 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
