ArmInfo.Residents of Hadrut who lost their homes held a protest action in front of the RA government. Several hundred refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh are asking to solve at least their basic urgent needs.
Artur Stepanyan, a refugee from Hadrut, said that the lump-sum benefits provided by the state do not meet their basic needs. He pointed to the lack of accurate data on the number of refugees in Armenia today, inappropriate use of funds allocated for the needs of refugees at the state bodies. "We ask that we at least be paid funds for renting housing, we will solve our other needs ourselves, we work and earn fora piece of bread," Stepanyan said, adding that if the state does not provide assistance, they will simply end up on the street.
He added that the Artsakh authorities assure that houses are being built for them, If there is funding, they will be ready by 2025, and if there is no funding, they will not be.
The protesters are asking them to return to Hadrut with international guarantees for their safety. They are also outraged that the authorities do not even provide documents proving their refugee status. The demonstrators handed a letter of demand to the RA government.
Then the demonstrators headed to the UN office in Armenia. Congratulating the office staff on the upcoming holidays, the demonstrators noted that they did not want to harm anyone, and circumstances forced them to wander from door to door. Then a letter was read out, which was then forwarded to the UN office.
The letter notes that despite the fact that a year has passed since the sad events of the fall of 2020, their problems remain unresolved: they are not granted any status, many humanitarian problems have arisen that, one might say, are not being resolved.
The demonstrators demand their return to the places of their former residence, that is, to Hadrut and international recognition of the independence of Artsakh and guarantees of security through the deployment of international peacekeepers. It is mentioned that if their return to Hadrut is delayed, then at least in Nagorno Karabakh they should be provided with an apartment, and now funds should be provided for solving social problems. The protesters asked the UN for help in this matter.
The end point of the march was the French Embassy in Armenia, where the demonstrators voiced the same demands.