Artsakh Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan’s statement on World Refugee Day.
“World Refugee Day is an opportunity to speak up once again about the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced persons. Although the rights of thousands of Armenians found themselves in status of refugee and forcibly displaced persons as a result of Azerbaijan’s aggressive actions were constantly raised on various platforms, the international community took scant attention in the raised issues.
As a result of massacres and deportations in Baku, Sumgait, Kirovabad and a number of other settlements of Soviet Azerbaijan, as well as the aggressive war unleashed against Artsakh in the 1990s, 500.000 Armenians became refugees, who, sadly, did not receive the appropriate attention and support, arising from their status.
In the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan’s aggression led to the forcible displacement of about 40.000 civilians of Artsakh as a result of which people lost their homes, lands and property. Among them are people who have been displaced for the third time due to the ongoing aggression of Azerbaijan. Taking shelter mainly in other settlements of Artsakh and in the Republic of Armenia, more than two and a half years after the war, they continue to face social and psychological problems in both Armenia and Artsakh at almost every stage of their life.
Today more than 15.000 IDPs live under siege in Artsakh, struggling both displacement and the effects of the blockade. The planned construction of 3700 apartments for them has been suspended due to the lack of the building material imported to Artsakh. People continue to live in temporary shelters, hotels and dormitories.
Given the problems that Artsakh’s state budget faces under blockade, more than 30.000 IDPs in need of temporary accommodation do not receive their monthly housing rent compensation on time, resulting in a significant deterioration of their social situation and housing conditions.
In conditions of vital infrastructure’s disruption, malnutrition, lack of essential goods and services, security threats arising from Azerbaijan’s acts, mental health of refugees and IDPs further deteriorates on top of their already existing psychological issues.
This is only part of the problems. The Staff of the Human Rights Defender is preparing a report on the rights and problems of IDPs and refugees which will be published in the near future with a detailed description of the existing problems.
The international community, in the face of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees must take immediate measures to ensure the protection of the rights of Armenian refugees and IDPs.”
