Zhanna Grigoryan left the occupied Republic of Artsakh on September 28, 2023. As part of Iravaban.net’s series “Legal Issues of Artsakh Armenians in Armenia,” she said that they were unable to take any documents with them, only passports.

“We left Khachmach village on September 19. I hadn’t even reached home, I had run to my grandchildren, and from there we went to Stepanakert. We were told that we would be going through forests, so I took two blankets. We stayed in basements, it was a terrible situation, the Turks were already very close, they had blown up a car in the neighboring village. Hearing all this, we didn’t even take bread with us, it was a terrible situation,” she says.

Zhanna Grigoryan notes that they traveled for two days with great difficulty. She says that they haven’t faced many problems in Armenia, only issues related to documents.

“For example, I don’t have my birth certificate, marriage certificate, or work record book. Everything was left there. I need to apply for housing, but those documents are absolutely necessary,” she said.

This material has been prepared with the financial support of the European Union. The “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO is responsible for the content, and it does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

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