Armenia`s government deprives Artsakh population of RA citizenship -  Gegham Stepanyan  

ArmInfo.  The Armenian government has effectively deprived the 120,000 exiled population of Artsakh of their Armenian citizenship. Artsakh Ombudsman and human rights activist Gegham Stepanyan stated this in an interview with Armenian media, referring to the government's decision, according to which the Artsakh residents either "re-accept" citizenship or receive temporary protection status. 

At the same time, as Stepanyan noted, the Artsakh residents entered  Armenia with Armenian passports with the code 070 and have repeatedly  applied to foreign consulates with the same passport to obtain a  visa, without encountering any problems so far. Touching upon other  reasons for the Artsakh residents' refusal to comply with this  requirement of the Armenian authorities, Stepanyan explained that,  given the lack of real prospects for returning to their homeland, a  passport with the code 070 is the only document that connects the  population of Artsakh with the Motherland. The human rights activist  also noted that this is also related to the small number of  applications for certificates for the purchase of housing under the  government program.

As Stepanyan continued, many Artsakh residents today also face  difficulties in finding housing in Yerevan due to the high market  price. However, he drew attention to the fact that Artsakh residents  are not able to move to other regions, since the main labor market is  concentrated in the capital. "Some Artsakh residents may be able to  buy housing in rural areas, but about 60% have already found work and  integrated in Yerevan or in the regions closest to it," Stepanyan  noted. 

In addition, according to him, most Artsakh residents face problems  in the banking sector. The human rights activist explained that  during the blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan, Artsakh residents were  unable to pay loans, and therefore ended up on "black lists". In this  regard, he drew attention to the fact that out of 900 people who  received housing certificates, only 100 Artsakh residents were able  to use them. "The reason is precisely that people are on banking  'blacklists' and cannot use these certificates," explained the  Artsakh Ombudsman.

In this context, Stepanyan noted that at this stage, a total of 4,000  people are beneficiaries of the housing program, who will have to  accept Armenian citizenship to receive a certificate. But the  government is cutting financial assistance for more than 50,000  people who may be left without rental housing. According to  Stepanyan, it is obvious that the people of Artsakh are interested in  quickly solving their problems and acquiring housing, but for this it  is necessary to review the government program.