ArmInfo. World Refugee Day is one more occasion to speak of the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced people. Despite the fact that the issue of rights of the thousands of Armenian refugees and forcibly displaced people due to Azerbaijan's aggressive actions is regularly raised on different platforms, the international community has never focused attention on them, reads a statement by Human Rights Defender of Nagorno-Karabakh Gegham Stepanyan.
He recalled that as a result of the Armenian pogroms in Baku, Sumgayit, Kirovabad and a number of other settlements of Soviet Azerbaijan, deportations, as well as the aggressive war unleashed by the Azerbaijani side against Artsakh in the 1990s, more than 500,000 Armenians became refugees, who, to Unfortunately, they have not yet received the necessary attention and support arising from their status
In this vein, he drew attention to the fact that in the fall of 2020, the Azerbaijani aggression led to the forcible deportation of about 40,000 citizens of Artsakh, as a result of which people lost their homes, lands and property.
"They also include people who have already been deported three times due to the ongoing Azerbaijani aggression. Having found refuge mainly in other settlements of Artsakh and in the Republic of Armenia, more than 2.5 years after the war, these people continue to face numerous socio-psychological problems at almost every stage of their life, both in Armenia and in Artsakh.
Today, more than 15,000 internally displaced persons live in Artsakh under the blockade, struggling with the consequences of both deportation and the blockade. As a result of the blockade of Artsakh, the construction of about 3,700 apartments intended for internally displaced persons was suspended due to the lack of building materials imported to Artsakh. So, people continue to live in temporary shelters, hotels and hostels. Due to the problems faced by the state budget of Artsakh due to the blockade, about 30,000 internally displaced persons in need of temporary housing in Armenia and Artsakh do not receive their monthly compensation for housing on time, as a result of which their social situation and living conditions deteriorate significantly.
With the constant disruption of vital infrastructure, malnutrition, lack of essential goods and services, security threats posed by Azerbaijan's actions, the mental health of refugees and internally displaced persons is deteriorating in addition to their already existing psychological problems," he said, adding that this is just part of the problems.
Stepanyan stressed that the Ombudsman's office is preparing a report on the rights and problems of internally displaced persons and refugees, which will be published in the near future, presenting in detail all the existing challenges.
"The international community, represented by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, must immediately take measures to ensure the protection of the rights of Armenian refugees and internally displaced persons," he concluded.