ArmInfo.32 public organizations from Artsakh have formed an initiative in Armenia aimed at protecting the needs of internally displaced persons. Artak Beglaryan, former minister of state and former ombudsman of Artsakh, chairman of the Union for the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the People of Artsakh, stated this at a press conference on March 6.
According to him, the initiative is aimed at solving priority problems facing the people of Artsakh, including solving their housing problems, especially taking into account the program discussed in the RA government to provide displaced people with a roof over their heads. The initiative is still in its infancy, the first step of which will be an open letter to the government of the Republic of Armenia, which will indicate the problems that have arisen related to the government program. The next stage of the program, Beglaryan continued, will be the collection of signatures for the text of an open letter, which will be submitted to the country's Cabinet of Ministers in the very near future.
In turn, the head of the Union of Families of Deceased Artsakh Military Personnel, Armen Atoyan, clarified that an open letter to the RA government will be presented today, March 6. He noted that the program of the RA government should be implemented based on the principle of preserving the Artsakh community. The duration of the program should be extended to two years with the involvement of financial resources of international organizations and donor countries in its implementation. To solve the housing problems of each of the forcibly displaced persons, allocate 5 million drams as a base amount, which corresponds to the average prices on the secondary market in the regions of the country.
These funds must be transferred to all refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh without the right to return the money. Taking into account the difficult social situation of displaced people and the extremely limited labor market, the initiative proposes that the RA government take steps to prevent further increases in prices for residential real estate, including through the construction of inexpensive housing. The authors of the initiative also oppose the requirement that refugees have Armenian citizenship in order to be included in the program, which contradicts the principles of international humanitarian law. The initiative also insists on the continuation of the program of full financing by the Armenian Cabinet of Ministers of payment for utilities consumed by internally displaced persons until they are provided with housing. It is also proposed to provide every Artsakh family with reasonable financial resources for the acquisition of property. Particular attention should be paid to the families of the victims and disabled people of the first group.
The housing program developed by the RA government for refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh provides for mandatory registration of Armenian citizenship, but the announced amount in practice will not allow people to purchase real estate. On February 23, the Armenian government offered internally displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh support in purchasing housing in border villages. The refugees themselves stated that they did not want to live in border areas due to problems with employment and security.