"Fact" daily writes:
Our compatriots forcibly displaced from Artsakh are gradually adapting to the new reality, keeping in mind the goal of returning to Artsakh. Acquiring an apartment or house continues to be the first in the list of important issues, followed by the issue of work, the dilemma of becoming a citizen of the Republic of Armenia, here they have fears about the future. Metaxe Hakobyan, deputy of the "Justice" faction of the Armenian National Assembly, says that in September-October 2023, violent during the displacement months, there was a large flow of Artsakh residents.
"At that time, those sudden, uncontrollable social supports could be a solution. I can't judge whether it should be more or less, but it was an approach to satisfy the issue of people's existence in the beginning consider positive.
Then, when people started to sober up little by little, became more realistic and noticed the reality more clearly, the government began to pour in programs etc., then the first sentence with which he started his thought was that this is the policy of the government. The authority clearly positioned itself and showed its political decision from Artsakh against the forcibly displaced.
At the beginning, we had a problem with professional analysis, but both by experiencing it on our own skin, and as a result of contact with our compatriots, and after conducting various types of consultations with specialists, it became clear that the policy that is chosen in such situations should have one of two goals. First, to get people on their feet quickly, to try to integrate them, not to deprive them of their dreams and aspirations, regarding our right to return to Artsakh, and to try to create a decent If this was the basis of politics, then, naturally, social support would be of a different kind.
The other option that could have been chosen was simply to destroy, eliminate, deprive people of their identity, to make people try to give up being Artsakh, or the worst option was to make people leave Armenia by the thousands and tens of thousands version," says Hakobyan in a conversation with "Pasti". He gives the formula of what real social support should be.
"The addressee should definitely be the authorities of Artsakh both from the people's side and also from the authorities' side in terms of cooperation, because for a year we have been hearing that they are holding discussions with the people of Artsakh, they are making decisions as a result of discussions with the people of Artsakh, but we do not see those people of Artsakh : We see 1-2 people who are obviously serving the interests of the authorities, hoping to make the people of Artsakh look like beggars and deprive them of their dreams in terms of people who are born in Artsakh, but are not citizens of Artsakh, nor have the right to be called Armenians in general, they cannot represent the opinion of the people of Artsakh.
Regardless of how a part of the society or the authorities treat the Artsakh authorities, the National Assembly is still the body representing the people of Artsakh. The authorities of Artsakh, regardless of whether they applied to them or not, were obliged to conduct social studies within a year was paralleled by the authorities of the Republic of Armenia, which took the forcibly displaced people under its protection.
They should have assessed the needs of the people of Artsakh from time to time. In the beginning, we were all treated the same way, but in the course of time, there are people who had one or more businesses before being deported to Armenia, or managed to create a business after coming. He had an apartment, bought more apartments in the process, or got a job: one for 50 thousand, the other for 5 million.
These are as examples. There was talk of employment and programs, which were spent, are being spent, and are still to be spent. For example, a person learned a trade, the state provided money for it, have the authorities followed up on whether the person emigrated or not, got a job, how did his social status change during that time, or didn't he sell his tools and for some time that to make ends meet with money.
In other words, it was necessary to understand what social changes have taken place in people's lives. But we do not have such a study carried out and presented by the authorities of Artsakh, "says our interlocutor. Another important issue is the issue of obtaining citizenship.
According to Hakobyan, it was announced that it was a political decision, but no explanation was given by "taking" the forced citizenship: where do you gain and where do you lose if you don't "take" citizenship? ranks, but after the demand for citizenship, some of them left the ranks of the army, thinking that when there was an opportunity to return to Artsakh, they would not be able to do so. If there were normal authorities that wanted to take people under their protection, they could regulate that hiring requirement only by changing the law," he adds. About the "40+10" social assistance program.
"Among the people of Artsakh, emotions are being raised that it should be continued, but any sensible, somewhat logical person understands that it cannot last forever. Our goal is to get "40+10" support before we return to Artsakh. A citizen of Artsakh has dignity, and his goal, before returning to his homeland, is to have a decent life in this part of the motherland. This should be done by state officials, without people As for the housing issue.
They are forcing people to live as close to the borders as possible. People of Artsakh are not afraid of this, but it is against international conventions. The forcibly displaced people are under protection, as a result of psychological and other problems, they should not be in such areas for a certain period of time. , what they went through. They say that 500 people have already applied for that program, the problem is the citizenship, etc. The few dozen people who got it the certificate, they cannot realize.
Banks say that this will happen after January. So far, only one family has used this program. Moreover, people who want to buy an apartment in Yerevan are now being refused leaving it in January so that there is no problem with the income tax return. No matter how much the officials declare that any program is not frozen and the housing program is in an active phase, we have asked our colleagues in the National Assembly to: to conduct hearings and give clear answers to the citizens of Artsakh regarding citizenship through specialists, so that people understand what they have to do," says the deputy.
He emphasizes that all the plans of these authorities have failed. "Basically, they are working to demoralize the people of Artsakh. Being in a desperate situation, they leave Armenia. Sometimes the problem of feeding the child is put in the balance, which is sometimes more difficult becomes the overriding goal of living in the homeland. This is the policy they choose. And also the people of Artsakh by taking them to rallies on demand, they once again want to create enmity between Armenia and the people of Artsakh.
Of course, the psychological and moral situation is a little different in this respect, but we have compatriots from Armenia who are in equal or worse condition physically and socially , that many people do not understand why they are left out of such programs. The propaganda machine works very well in that direction. they are rich, and they want to use the money of our compatriots," concludes Metaxe Hakobyan.
Lusine Arakelyan
