The “Strengthening of Rights Protection Mechanisms of Forcibly Displaced Persons from Nagorno Karabakh” Project was launched in Armenia on 1 February. On 26 July, the presentation of the electronic legal assistance platform for forcibly displaced people from Artsakh took place.

The Project is implemented by the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO in cooperation with partner “Harmony” Shushi Women NGO in the framework of the “Justice Reforms Monitoring in Armenia” (www.juremonia.am) program implemented with the financial support of the European Union.

Mr. Karen Zadoyan, President of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association noted that great efforts were made to implement the program. The aim is to contribute to the adaptation of forcibly displaced from Artsakh in their new communities of residence in Armenia by strengthening the mechanisms for the protection of their rights, to increase the level of legal awareness and protection of their rights and facilitate access to justice.

“You know that the problems are diverse, people really need help and the solution for it is mainly related to complicated legal procedures. We will also present the platform armrights.am for the legal assistance to forcibly displaced people from Artsakh, which we have created in the course of several months. Through this platform, the Artsakh Armenians living in the regions of Armenia will be able to present their problems online, and we will try to process those problems,” Karen Zadoyan said.

Ms Anahit Mardoyan , representative of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, spoke about the program, its goals, the actions that have been taken or planned to be performed in the near future. The most important of the objectives is to contribute to the quick and easy adaptation of the forcibly displaced Artsakh citizens in Armenia.

“The other goal is to support our compatriots, the people of Artsakh, on the way to solving their legal problems. One of the targets is to increase the level of legal awareness of our compatriots through awareness campaigns,” Anahit Mardoyan said.

Ms Mariana Avagyan, “Strengthening of Rights Protection Mechanisms of Forcibly Displaced Persons from Nagorno Karabakh” Project Lawyer noted that in order to make the legal support more accessible, the project representatives organized meetings through local governments in the communities where the displaced citizens live.

“Free legal assistance was provided to 113 Artsakh citizens on the spot during our visits to 12 communities in Armenia, 10 citizens applied to our office independently and 28 more, remotely (by phone or online). During this period, we cooperated with “Tumo for the Youth of Artsakh” initiative of TUMO Center for Creative Technologies. We held an awareness seminar, the purpose of which was aimed to raise the level of legal awareness of persons forcibly displaced from Artsakh. The support programs, as well as the legislative regulations, regarding which questions often arise, were presented,” Mariana Avagyan noted.

A forcibly displaced person Ms Julietta Arustamyan, Chairperson of the Management Board of the Network of CSOs for the Protection of the Rights of Forcibly Displaced from Nagorno-Krabakh, Executive Director of “Harmony” Shushi Women NGO, spoke about the problems that the displaced people face even after 2020, not understanding where they should go, how they should solve those problems.

“After 2023, there was an urgent need to unite the efforts of those representatives of the civil society who are engaged in the protection of the rights of displaced persons. The network was created due to that necessity,” she said.

A 12-person Management Board from the representatives of the founding members of the network was formed. The main problems of Artsakh Armenians are highlighted and discussed in the network.

Then Karen Zadoyan presented armrights.am platform. The name of the electronic platform was chosen as a result of a vote held by the members of the Network.

Through the electronic platform, the Armenians of Artsakh will have the opportunity to raise and solve their legal problems. The citizens can financially support the solution of legal problems of Artsakh Armenians as well.

“This is a test platform that we will constantly improve. Success stories of Artsakh Armenians were also posted on the platform to show that if legal problems of one person are solved, another person with similar problems can see it and apply to have their problems solved as well. The solved problem may seem small, but it is a serious success for that person and family,” Karen Zadoyan said.

Then the attendees asked questions to the organizers.

Let’s remind that 101,848 people displaced from Artsakh are registered in Armenia, 30,000 of them are children. 72,626 displaced persons live in the regions, the rest in Yerevan.