Prime Minister: Demands of refugees who had fled from Azerbaijan are  quite legitimate

ArmInfo. The Armenian government has taken a number of serious decisions regarding refugees who had fled from Azerbaijan. Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol  Pashinyan stated this on May 3 during the government hour in the  National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, answering the question  of Vilen Gabrielyan, MP from the ruling "Civil Contract" faction.

The MP recalled that a forum on the problems of refugees was held in  Yerevan the other day. At this forum, a declaration was adopted,  which mentions the rights of 100,000 refugees deported from  Azerbaijan. In particular, it is noted that refugees have the right  to voluntary return to their homeland.  Gabrielyan emphasized that he  speaks about this as a person born in Baku, whose family had to flee  under the threat of death.

As the RA Prime Minister noted, there are institutional problems to  solve the raised issue. He spoke in favor of holding a working  meeting of government members, MPs and representatives of civil  society in the near future for a detailed discussion of the existing  problems.

Pashinyan noted that the demands of former residents of Azerbaijan  who became refugees as a result of pogroms in Sumgayit, Baku and  other cities are quite legitimate. "The same problem exists in  Nagorno- Karabakh, as evidenced by the tripartite statement of  November 9, 2020," the head of government emphasized, adding that the  issue is quite voluminous and requires additional research.  The  Prime Minister emphasized that the issue of human rights should not  be ignored in this matter. Point 7 of the tripartite statement  clearly talks about the need to return refugees to Nagorno-Karabakh  and neighboring settlements under the auspices of the United Nations  High Commissioner for Refugees. But this right of our compatriots,  the prime minister continued, has not yet been realized. Moreover,  the devastated Armenian villages are populated by Azerbaijanis. In  fact, there is a process of expropriation of the property of the  residents of Armenian settlements.