Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh demand official status from Armenia

On July 6, refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh began a sitting picket in front of the Armenian government building demanding an official status. They believe that Armenian authorities ignore their demand for political reasons.

Dozens of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh who lost their homes in 2020 demand from the Armenian government to award them with an official refugee status. They are sure that this status will help them in returning to their homes and contribute to a political solution to the Karabakh problem.

To achieve their goal, they intend using various protest forms; they decided to start with sitting pickets. On July 7, they again plan to gather near the government building, where they will discuss a plan for further action.

"Refugees have repeatedly raised this issue with the Armenian authorities without success. The reason for this Armenian authorities' behaviour is in ensuring others' interests to the detriment of their own people," Levon Airiyan, the chairman of the NGO "In the Name of Gadrut", who is a resident of the village of Mets Taglar, Gadrut District of Nagorno-Karabakh, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Levon says that Armenian officials call them refugees, but fail to award them with this status. "This is a political decision, and it is imposed on the Armenian government by Russia and Azerbaijan," Mr Airiyan claims, adding that for 30 years he has not been a citizen of any country, and today, having lost what he had, he has no status at all.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 7, 2022 at 05:52 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.