Over 15,000 forcibly displaced people faced with aftermath of  deportation, blockade in Artsakh - Gegham Stepanyan

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.