Refugees report problems with housing and social help in Nagorno-Karabakh

It is difficult for forced migrants to rent apartments or hotel room in Stepanakert; and not everyone can prove one's right to receive social help, refugees have complained.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that authorities had announced that new houses are being built for those who lost their homes during the Karabakh war; and they also receive payments. The refugees accommodated in the Stepanakert boarding house for the elderly named the absence of employment and money among their major problems.

According to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Karabakh, 946 refugees are accommodated in hotels; more than 200 people live in a boarding house and hostels.

Kristina Alakhverdyan, an assistant to the head of the above ministry, said that, first of all, places are provided to socially needy families.

By providing refugees with foodstuffs or one-time financial assistance, the state fails to solve their problems, Alik Stepanyan from the village of Tumi, Gadrut District, believes. In his opinion, the authorities should think about solving housing and employment problems, or start talks about the return of territories.

"My son was wounded; he is being treated in Armenia ... Social payments are enough only for food and travel. First of all, we, refugees, need stable work," Mr Stepanyan has added.

Before the war, Romik Botsinyan lived in a village in the Kashatag District without registration, because he is registered in Armenia. Now he cannot prove that he has the right to social assistance.