Armenian official: Cutting aid to Artsakh residents will encourage  them to prioritize finding work instead of relying on assistance

ArmInfo. The new strategy for offering financial assistance to Artsakh residents is designed to encourage them to find  work. This was announced at a press conference in Yerevan on April 11 by Artak Harutyunyan, Head of the  Department of Demography and Social Guarantees of the Family at the  Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia, when discussing the  new government aid program for Artsakh residents.

Ignoring the serious issues that Artsakh residents face in finding  work, which they have repeatedly signaled, Harutyunyan began to talk  about the criteria for compliance with this target program.  The  Ministry of Social Protection and Employment could not come up with a  better solution than to establish a threshold according to which, in  order to prove their social vulnerability, Artsakh residents, for  example, must sell the car they used to escape the genocide in  September 2023. This car was definitely not acquired with social  assistance from the Armenian government. Additionally, he emphasized  that assistance would not be provided to those under state  guardianship, as well as to families included in the social housing  fund program. Harutyunyan disagreed with the opinion that  all  Artsakh residents are currently facing problems in finding work. He  stated that according to their data, about 26,000 people have jobs,  with 7,800 if them  earning a salary of more than 200,000 drams.  However, Harutyunyan chose not to speak about the remaining tens of  thousands of Artsakh residents.