Armenia: IDPs from Gadrut demand refugee status

Several dozen internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Gadrut held a protest in Yerevan, at which they demanded from the Armenian authorities to grant them the refugee status and recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that refugees from Karabakh are regularly holding protests in Yerevan. On February 5, 2022, activists in Yerevan announced that Armenian authorities would not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state, which calls into question its continued existence, while offering the refugees to return to Karabakh.

"We learned that Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, will arrive in Armenia and visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). We decided to come here and see if we can submit our demand on granting us the refugee status," said Levon Airyan, a co-founder of the NGO "In the Name of Gadrut", the "Panorama.am" reports.

The second aim of the action is to hand a letter over to the Armenian Foreign Minister, Ara Aivazyan, with a demand to meet refugees from Gadrut, as they want to know if Armenian authorities intend to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Most of the IDPs hope to return to Gadrut and demand that from Armenian authorities to recognize the independence of Karabakh. "We don't want to live in any other place than Gadrut," said Vilen Agabekyan, another participant in the action.