Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh holding protest, government officials  ready to meet with protesters 

ArmInfo.  The Artsakh residents who have been holding a sit-in strike on Freedom Square since July 12 have moved their action to the government building.

The Artsakh Human Rights Council, which is the initiator of the  event, stated that they have one demand from the Armenian authorities  - a solution to the pressing problems of Artsakh refugees.

A representative of the Prime Minister's Office, Hayk Simonyan, came  out to the protesters and announced the readiness of the executive  body representatives to receive the delegation of the Council and  listen to the demands. The Council accepted this proposal and  proposed to form a group of several people, which should also include  citizens who are not members of the Council for negotiations.

Member of the Artsakh People's Rights Protection Council Sasun  Davtyan voiced the main demands to the government, in particular:

restoration of payments in the amount of "40+10" thousand drams for  Artsakh residents who do not have housing in Armenia, as well as  revision of the housing program taking into account the additional  financial needs of small families.

In addition, the Council demanded to increase the amount allocated  for the construction of houses, instead of purchasing housing on the  market, where prices are constantly rising. They also proposed to  develop a mechanism for discussing all the issues presented by the  Council, and not limiting themselves to social ones. These demands  were submitted to the government pending a response.

As Council member Artak Mkrtchyan explained in a conversation with  journalists, the rally is being held this time near the government,  due to the lack of response from the authorities after the sit-in  strike on Freedom Square. According to him, they demand that the  government solve their pressing problems so that refugees from  Artsakh do not take the path of migration.

"People came to the opera and told us that they were left on the  street due to the inability to pay for housing and were living with  relatives or neighbors. However, we understand that this cannot  continue for long," he added, emphasizing the seriousness of the  situation.

Touching on the expectations of these processes, he noted that  everything depends on how ready the Artsakh people themselves are to  fight for their rights, assuring that the Council has its own plans.  He also drew attention to the fact that, despite the initial  statements of the authorities that they were not going to change  anything, after the first rally of the Artsakh people they had to  extend payments for two months. In this regard, Mkrtchyan expressed  his conviction that if some actions are taken now, then it will be  possible to achieve changes.

"I am sure that if people come out and declare their rights in the  form of actions or other events, then the government will react again  and, perhaps, try to improve something in the program," the Council  member is sure.

In turn, another member of the Council for the Protection of the  Rights of the People of Artsakh, Anastas Israelyan, noted that they  expect clear actions from the Armenian authorities to resolve the  social problems of refugees.

"Everything that happened happened precisely because of the fault of  the current leadership. It is this government that is responsible for  what happened to the people of Artsakh, and that is why we are at the  government building today. Our main demand is to create conditions so  that we can continue to live in our homeland. Our goal is to stop  emigration. While their goal is unclear. This is not a complaint,  this is a demand," Israelyan said.

He emphasized that the people of Artsakh are not doing anything  anti-national, but are only trying to do everything possible to stay  in Armenia and fight for their return to Artsakh. "This is an  Armenian issue that should remain on the agenda," the member of the  Council concluded.

Recall that on July 12, a rally in defense of the rights of the  people of Artsakh, organized by the Council for the Protection of the  Rights of the People of Artsakh, was held at Freedom Square. This  rally was a response to the results of the Council's negotiations  with the government, during which the authorities agreed to consider  only one of the 12 key points, concerning social issues, and not even  that in full. After the rally, the Council began a sit-in strike in  the square. The police forbade them from holding a march or a sit-in  strike near the government or parliament building of Armenia.