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NO PLACE FOR REFUGEES: "I HAVE SPENT A LIFETIME LIVING IN THE HOTEL WALLS . . . "
http://armenianow.com/society/52902/refugees_in_armenia_baku_refugees_larisa_alaverdya n_united_nations
SOCIETY | 21.03.14 | 15:40
Photo: www.aravot.am
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
Twenty six years after being displaced from Azerbaijan and finding
safety in Armenia some refugees still do not have their own places
of residence, staying in hostels with no hope their housing issue
would ever be resolved.
"There is no instance we haven't turned to, we have sent letters to
wherever's possible, the most recent letter was to the president last
year. The answer is always the same - wait until there are funds. We
have waited for so long our lives have passed by, not much is left,"
says Laura Ananyan, 57, who for a quarter of a century has lived
In Nairi hotel in Nork district of Yerevan. "When I came here from
Kirovabad, I was 31; today my children are 34, they have left for
Russia. I have spent a lifetime in these hotel walls."
Her story echoes a similar one told by Nelli Makeyan, 53, who has been
staying here and there at her relatives' places for all these years.
"Our issues will never be resolved, and living like this is terrible,
where shall we go?" she says.
Larisa Alaverdyan, leading Against Legal Arbitrariness NGO, says it's
a big failure on a state level that the issue is yet unresolved.
The United Nations allotted 20 million drams (around $49,000), while
the state budget of Armenia - only 5 million drams ($12,000) during
the years between 2003 and 2009, for the refugees' housing issue.
Alaverdyan says those funds were insufficient to solve the housing
issue for the displaced. She adds with regret that this issue has
been removed from the political agenda at all. There isn't a single
designated body in Armenia to be dealing with the issues of either
the refugees or those displaced from Azerbaijan.
"In Azerbaijan, refugees' issues are solved on a vice premier's
level and are number one issue on their agenda. In Armenia, migration
has gained new tempo, and I can state for sure that the most mobile
group is that of refugees, because not having even the minimum living
conditions they are the first to leave the country," Alaverdyan says.
Robert Khachatryan, heading the Union of Baku Compatriots, says the
most serious issue to the Baku refugees is their housing.
"We have arrived to a conclusion that there has been deliberation on
the RA government part in not solving this issue. We see corruption
risks here, starting from construction and ending with apartment
distribution," he says.
Alaverdyan says there is no such case in the international practice
when for 15-20 years refugees' issues would have remained unresolved.
"The state has to find a respective solution. The fact that there
isn't enough money should not affect the refugees," says the human
rights advocate.
MP Aragats Akhoyan, member of the NA Commission on Social Issues, says
the same story is now repeated also with the Syrian-Armenian refugees.
"We are thinking of building a new district, which means isolating
Syrian-Armenians, when they have to be integrated," he says.
From: Baghdasarian
http://armenianow.com/society/52902/refugees_in_armenia_baku_refugees_larisa_alaverdya n_united_nations
SOCIETY | 21.03.14 | 15:40
Photo: www.aravot.am
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
Twenty six years after being displaced from Azerbaijan and finding
safety in Armenia some refugees still do not have their own places
of residence, staying in hostels with no hope their housing issue
would ever be resolved.
"There is no instance we haven't turned to, we have sent letters to
wherever's possible, the most recent letter was to the president last
year. The answer is always the same - wait until there are funds. We
have waited for so long our lives have passed by, not much is left,"
says Laura Ananyan, 57, who for a quarter of a century has lived
In Nairi hotel in Nork district of Yerevan. "When I came here from
Kirovabad, I was 31; today my children are 34, they have left for
Russia. I have spent a lifetime in these hotel walls."
Her story echoes a similar one told by Nelli Makeyan, 53, who has been
staying here and there at her relatives' places for all these years.
"Our issues will never be resolved, and living like this is terrible,
where shall we go?" she says.
Larisa Alaverdyan, leading Against Legal Arbitrariness NGO, says it's
a big failure on a state level that the issue is yet unresolved.
The United Nations allotted 20 million drams (around $49,000), while
the state budget of Armenia - only 5 million drams ($12,000) during
the years between 2003 and 2009, for the refugees' housing issue.
Alaverdyan says those funds were insufficient to solve the housing
issue for the displaced. She adds with regret that this issue has
been removed from the political agenda at all. There isn't a single
designated body in Armenia to be dealing with the issues of either
the refugees or those displaced from Azerbaijan.
"In Azerbaijan, refugees' issues are solved on a vice premier's
level and are number one issue on their agenda. In Armenia, migration
has gained new tempo, and I can state for sure that the most mobile
group is that of refugees, because not having even the minimum living
conditions they are the first to leave the country," Alaverdyan says.
Robert Khachatryan, heading the Union of Baku Compatriots, says the
most serious issue to the Baku refugees is their housing.
"We have arrived to a conclusion that there has been deliberation on
the RA government part in not solving this issue. We see corruption
risks here, starting from construction and ending with apartment
distribution," he says.
Alaverdyan says there is no such case in the international practice
when for 15-20 years refugees' issues would have remained unresolved.
"The state has to find a respective solution. The fact that there
isn't enough money should not affect the refugees," says the human
rights advocate.
MP Aragats Akhoyan, member of the NA Commission on Social Issues, says
the same story is now repeated also with the Syrian-Armenian refugees.
"We are thinking of building a new district, which means isolating
Syrian-Armenians, when they have to be integrated," he says.
From: Baghdasarian