In a recent in-depth interview with Golos Armenii on 2023-06-03, Meri Khachatryan, Director of “The A.D. Sakharov Armenian Human Rights Protection Centre” NGO, discussed the critical intersection between the legal status of displaced persons and the broader political future of Artsakh.
A month has passed since the participants of the forum “Old and new refugees of Azerbaijani aggression: past, present, future” adopted a declaration, the text of which was sent to the apparatus of the Armenian government and diplomatic missions.
Mary Khachatryan, co-founder of the event, director of the A.D. Sakharov Armenian Human Rights Protection Centre, tells about the questions raised by the initiators of the forum and what are the expectations of the refugees.
– Mrs. Khachatryan, 2.5 years have passed since, due to the war unleashed by Azerbaijan, tens of thousands of Artsakh people were forced to leave their native land and settle in Armenia. What, in your opinion, should the Armenian authorities first of all do to alleviate the plight of these people?
– At the beginning of 2023, the housing issue of refugees intensified. With the aggravation of the situation, after the 44-day war, a new wave of refugees arrived in Armenia from Artsakh. Hundreds of families were forcibly evicted from their land and, having lost their homes, ended up in Armenia without their corner. The monitoring of refugee problems revealed that the problems of the new wave of refugees are similar to those faced in 1988-1992 by their predecessors from the Azerbaijan SSR and settlers from the NKAR. First of all, the people of Artsakh raise the issue of status with the Armenian authorities. They mostly have Armenian passports, which is why they are not considered refugees. The authorities call them migrants, their status is vague. The second most urgent problem of these people is the housing issue. The issue of employment of compatriots is also acute, many have outstanding bank debts, which plays an important role in obtaining a mortgage and selling housing certificates. Artsakh people have many problems. In our appeal to the authorities of Armenia and Artsakh, we identified the steps that are of priority, but so far there has been no response from the official authorities.
– Meanwhile, compatriots who were forcibly evicted from the Azerbaijan SSR in 1988-1992 were also not considered refugees, they were called forcibly displaced people. However, they were subsequently granted refugee status.
– Of course, it became possible to assign refugee status, in accordance with the UN Convention (Article 1), to people who were expelled from Azerbaijan in 1988-1992 on ethnic grounds and found shelter in Armenia, it became possible with the declaration of independence of Armenia and the adoption of a new Constitution. At the same time, compatriots who left the historical territories of Artsakh in 1988-1992 did not receive refugee status in Armenia and are still considered internally displaced people.
Thus, it is very important that the state that received the Artsakh people determine their legal status at this stage.
– Did the organizers of the forum manage to reach out to international structures?
– The purpose of the refugee forum was the intention of human rights organizations to bring to the attention of the governments of Armenia and Artsakh, international organizations the priority tasks regarding the people of Artsakh. Unfortunately, diplomatic missions and international research, analytical centres, government agencies (with the exception of several deputies who left the meeting) did not send representatives to the forum on this most urgent agenda.
A weak hope that the signal would be heard was the prime minister’s appeal to the text of the Declaration on the results of the forum in response to the MP’s question during the NA session. And nothing more. Unfortunately, no further action was taken on the issues raised (regarding the restoration of the state authorized body for refugees, compensation for the abandoned property, granting refugee status to the people of Artsakh, which automatically recognizes the right of Artsakh to self-determination). Although a month has passed since the adoption of the Declaration by the forum participants.
Meanwhile, it is international organizations that should put an end to the growing aggression of Azerbaijan against Artsakh and Armenia.
– The text of the Declaration raises the issue of material compensation to the people of Artsakh for the abandoned property. Considering that in the early 2000s, on behalf of tens of thousands of refugees from the Azerbaijan SSR, human rights activists prepared complaints to the UN Human Rights Committee for compensation for abandoned property, is it not worth using this precedent?
– I should note that only Levon Nersisyan on behalf of the A.D. Sakharov Armenian Human Rights Protection Centre (with the support of the UNHCR Office in the Republic of Armenia) in 1998 sent about 13 thousand applications to the relevant UN authority on behalf of Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan. Subsequently, other NGOs also sent appeals. Unfortunately, the applications have not yet been considered. Over the past 35 years, the issue of compensation for damage to refugees from Azerbaijan has not been resolved. Added to this were the claims of the new wave of refugees. Today, the demands from the residents of Berdzor, Shushi, Aghavno and other communities of Artsakh have also become relevant.
– In fact, the question remains within the competence of public organizations? And what about the governments of the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh?
– Unfortunately, in Armenia, the profile state structure has been deactivated, and the Migration and Citizenship Service is dealing with refugee issues, which has been reduced to the level of management within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, significantly limiting its functions. Meanwhile, from a legal point of view, it is fundamentally impossible to put an equal sign between refugees and migrants, since when returning to the country of origin, the lives of refugees are endangered. While migrants will be free to return at their own discretion. Therefore, it is necessary that the issues of the return of Artsakh refugees to their homeland be dealt with by a state body with the cooperation and under the direct supervision of the UN.
– Do you want to say that due to the lack of refugee status, which would facilitate the solution of a number of pressing issues, our compatriots are left to organize protests in front of the Government House, trying to convey their problems and demands to the authorities? From whom should the people of Artsakh, left without a home, demand the implementation of the Trilateral Agreement of the heads of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia?
– Paragraph 7 of the Trilateral Agreement dated November 9, 2020 states that “internally displaced people and refugees return to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas under the control of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.”
If three heads of UN member states sign a document and refer to the United Nations in their agreement, what prevents these leaders themselves from turning to the UN and demanding the implementation of the document they adopted?
Without the implementation of paragraph 6 of the said Agreement (concerning the Lachin corridor), the implementation of the remaining paragraphs loses its meaning. The key requirement in this contract is the fulfillment of clause 6.
– In fact, is there confusion with the concept of “return to Nagorno-Karabakh”? Do people believe that a green road is being opened for them to return to Sumgait, Kirovabad, Baku? Or is it only about the resettlement to the territory of the NKR of Azerbaijanis who had previously left the NKAO and Armenia?
– In fact, the Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan will de facto not be able to return to their homes (Sumgait, Baku, etc.). The Azerbaijani authorities will do everything to prevent this․ In addition, there is no guarantee that the lives of the returnees will be safe.
Meanwhile, Ilham Aliyev’s threatening rhetoric against the people of Artsakh, demanding that they accept Azerbaijani citizenship or leave their native land, is devoid of legal and moral grounds. The people of Artsakh expressed their will by separating from the Azerbaijan SSR (in accordance with the USSR Law of April 3, 1990 “On the procedure for resolving issues related to the withdrawal of a union republic from the USSR”), and the latter, as you know, later proclaimed itself an independent republic, which is not the successor of the USSR.
Thus, the ball is on the territory of Armenia – our government must immediately recognize the right of Artsakh to self-determination and independence. Then the international structures will be able to apply the legal arsenal they have and help the people of Artsakh.
– Perhaps then it will be possible to voice the issue of the destruction of our cultural heritage in international instances?
– Without a doubt, with the recognition of the independence of Artsakh, it will also be possible to save the surviving cultural monuments and museum exhibits that the vandals did not have time to destroy in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
Read also A Call for Justice: The Declaration on the Rights of Refugees from Azerbaijan
Տhe article is available on Golos Armenii website.