Karabakh refugees face eviction from rented housing

After the reduction of financial support, families of internally displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh are massively looking for cheaper housing, many are forced to move from cities to villages. The refugees expressed hope that the Council for the Protection of the Rights of Karabakh Residents will continue its work and achieve improvements in housing programs.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" reported, the Council for the Protection of the Rights of the People of Nagorno-Karabakh organized a mass rally in support of the social demands of the refugees on July 12, while the Yerevan City Council rejected applications to hold a march and a sit-in after the rally. The protesting refugees submitted their demands to the Armenian government, but the authorities refused to fulfill them. The Council for the Protection of the Rights of Karabakh Residents stated that street protests did not produce the expected results.

The Council for the Protection of the Rights of the People of Nagorno-Karabakh left the building of the republic's representative office in Yerevan, announced its reorganization, plans for cooperation with local and international structures, and the formation of regional groups. On July 17, activists announced plans for further activities, confirming that street actions were ending.

The text of the Council's statement notes that "the pan-Armenian agenda on the rights of the people of Artsakh (the self-designation of Nagorno-Karabakh) and the return of Artsakh has not received a broad response and support from either the political parties of Armenia, or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, or intellectuals and public figures."

"The Council, having suspended negotiations with the RA government and initiated a rally, faced increased pressure: from repressions against Council members, the concentration of a large number of police forces on Freedom Square and Baghramyan Avenue to the illegal ban on the march. There were cases of artificial obstruction of the participation of our compatriots arriving in Yerevan from the regions in the rally. However, the Council believes that even in this difficult period, our joint efforts are capable of ensuring the protection of the rights of the people of Artsakh, including the preservation of state institutions. Therefore, despite the existing challenges and difficulties, we will continue our efforts in this direction, not excluding cooperation with all interested and healthy forces,” the text published on the organization’s social network page says.

Fewer people came to the rally than the organizers planned, and many associate this with the failure of the negotiations with the Armenian government, said the representative of the Council Apres Margaryan. He noted that the Karabakh people “are disappointed and do not trust the authorities.”

“The Armenian government also emphasizes that few people came to the rally on July 12 and the action on July 14. But let us remember that the Armenians of Artsakh were under blockade for nine months, for nine months they believed that they would be helped to overcome the blockade and that they would remain to live on their land. However, they did not wait for this support and were forced to move to Armenia, where they met with a negative and dismissive attitude from the authorities and some part of society. It is not surprising that the refugees are disappointed and do not believe that their problems will be understood and solved,” the activist said.

He expressed regret that members of the government of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and members of parliament were not present at the actions. “Although, what we are trying to do, they should do, so we do not see the presence of the Council in the building of the Artsakh representative office as appropriate. We stopped the stage of street struggle, since the pan-Armenian agenda for Artsakh that we declared did not actually work. The Council will be reorganized in the near future, and we are beginning discussions on the format of further actions of the Council. As for street protests, they will be resumed in case of great public demand,” Apres Margaryan explained.

The leader of the opposition party "Tomorrow's Artsakh" Tigran Petrosyan explained the results of the protests by the fact that "the crowd defeated the individual." "This is the same crowd that loudly welcomed the head of state in different halls, regardless of who this head is and what sins he has. This crowd of spontaneously raising their hands once again defeated those few individuals who tried to somehow help their suffering people. We must thank these individuals who were truly honest with the people, but the energy accumulated in society was extinguished, redirected in another direction, destroyed from within. "But it would be possible to unite and use it to achieve results," Petrosyan noted.

Karabakh public organizations and the office of the Nagorno-Karabakh Ombudsman are called upon to defend the rights of refugees, "but they are mainly engaged in collecting information and humanitarian activities," said public figure from Nagorno-Karabakh Artur Grigoryan.

"Only the Council made specific demands and actions: rallies, meetings with refugees. Along with social problems, the Council raised the important political rights of the Artsakh people. They negotiated directly with the government and had some success in the housing program. Another thing is that other organizations or figures did not want to join the Council. I am sure that the Armenian authorities have done a good job to prevent this unification: it was not for nothing that before the July 12 rally, the activists were invited to a conversation with the police, where they were warned that people would not come out to the rally. The Council’s activities have shown that people need a structure that will deal exclusively with their needs. I hope that the activists will continue to work. Although they work free of charge, on a voluntary basis, they are all refugees too and must take care of their families. "I see success only in the unification of efforts and opportunities of all Karabakh NGOs and the parliament of Nagorno-Karabakh," Grigoryan said.

Refugees busy looking for affordable housing

After the reduction of financial support, many refugees faced the issue of finding cheaper housing, but there are few opportunities for free accommodation in Armenia, said Karine Bakhshiyan, editor of the Berd publication from the Askeran region of Nagorno-Karabakh. According to her, only a few refugee families live free of charge in buildings belonging to the community: these are boarding houses and nursing homes, as well as some houses in the Lori region and in remote villages, where only a few dozen families are accommodated.

"Since July 1, many refugee families began looking for cheaper housing. Many people call me asking to let them know if there is such housing, Karabakh groups on social networks are overflowing with such requests. The situation is difficult for families with two or three people, it is very difficult for married couples of pre-retirement age: they are not hired because of their age, and they do not have a pension yet and do not receive social support as a vulnerable group. Single people have found themselves in a very difficult situation: even if they work, their salaries are not enough to rent housing and the minimum wage. There are cases when families are forced to move from the city to the villages, since they have already been kicked out of their apartment. I know families who are planning to leave Armenia. I think the more time passes, the harder it will be, since no government program takes into account that rent is very high in Armenia," Bakhshiyan said.

Norayr Shahbazyan, a father of two from Stepanakert, attended the July 12 rally and regretfully noted that there were fewer people than at the rally in March. "Many say that people are disappointed, they don't believe it, but the situation is getting worse every day, soon thousands of families will be forced to hold a "sit-in strike", finding themselves without a roof over their heads. I think if our deputies helped the activists, called on everyone to come to the rally, there would be more people, it's just that most of us are used to participating in actions only at the behest of the authorities. Let's remember how many times the opposition in Stepanakert tried to gather people, raise problems, but only a few came out," the man said.

He added that the Council for the Protection of the Rights of Karabakh Residents should act: according to Shahbazyan, this is the only organization whose activities can help refugees. "For almost two years, many organizations and initiatives have tried to talk about the rights of refugees, but all of these were just appeals on paper. Only the members of the Council managed to get two months of continued social support from the government for all refugees and significant changes in the housing program. If they had been supported, there would have been more success. I hope that the Council will continue its work," the man said.

Narine Avanesyan from Nagorno-Karabakh also expressed hope that the Council will continue its activities and will be able to achieve new changes in refugee programs, including housing. "If we have a roof over our heads, we will at least be able to live on our salaries," the woman noted.

"The Armenian authorities control everything, but do not want to control real estate prices. This is a mockery of ordinary people, thousands of families are looking for cheaper rental housing. I am a widow with a child, I barely found a job in Yerevan, not in my profession, but with a stable salary. Due to the inability to pay rent, I am in a panic, I have no idea what to do. I agree to social housing, but apparently this program is also a failure,” complained Anna Dadayan from Stepanakert.

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