Houses promised by Nagorno-Karabakh authorities 25 years ago still absent, refugees claim

30 families living in the student dormitory of the Artsakh State University in Stepanakert, still have not received the housing that was promised to them 25 years ago. According to refugees, the building is crowded, and people are living in unsanitary conditions. The government of Nagorno-Karabakh assures that the issue of refugees living in the dormitories will be resolved; however, the date when the issue can be resolved, remains unknown.

"Starting from 1988, 30 families of refugees from Azerbaijan temporarily live in the student dormitory of the Artsakh State University, and they all were promised to be provided with new housing 25 years ago," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Ruzanna Avakyan, a refugee from Sumgait, a representative of the public organization of refugees of Nagorno-Karabakh in Stepanakert.

Suren Movsisyan, a refugee from Baku, who has been living with his family in the dormitory of the University since 1988, said that the conditions in the blocks are unsanitary.

"You can visit any block, and there are holes everywhere, and rats crawl. We repair those holes by ourselves as we can. The pipes are old and rotten," Suren Movsisyan stated.

"Many of the refugees have already retired. Though the refugees' children have grown up and they work, it is so expensive to live in Stepanakert that people work to support themselves. Even if the family has 3-4 employed persons, it is not possible to buy an apartment," Ruzanna Avakyan has noted.

"According to official statistics, about 4250 refugee families live in Stepanakert, and 470 families are in need of housing," she stated.

Ara Arutyunyan, Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that "at present, we develop a programme providing for the improvement of living conditions for Karabakh War Category I invalids, citizens living in emergency buildings, and residents of dormitories, especially refugees."

"This is a multi-billion project that will be implemented. However, when and how it will be implemented is still to be discussed, since some residents prefer to remain living in the same dormitory and privatize housing. Some residents want new housing. We are to discuss all issues, and the problem will eventually be resolved," the Prime Minister stated.

The refugees criticize the position of the international community. "We do not have international refugee status, since our state is not recognized by the international community. Our organization has many times appealed to different international agencies to urge them to provide international status to the refugees from Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh. However, we are being ignored, and this is a flagrant violation of our rights," Ruzanna Avakyan has stated.

She treats as another violation of the rights of the refugees the fact that Azerbaijan has failed to compensate moral and material damage.

Meanwhile, the exact number of the persons to receive compensation has been determined. "Although the official statistics states that 500,000 Armenians left Azerbaijan, but in fact, there was a million of us who have left apartments and houses. By the way, Armenians in Azerbaijan lived well, all of them had apartments in good districts and neighbourhoods, and they had deposits in banks," Ruzanna Avakyan has emphasized.