Artsakh refugees outraged by Armenian government's decision to cut their aid

YEREVAN, 29 November. /ARKA/. Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) refugees have taken with great dissatisfaction the Armenian government's decision to reduce the financial aid provided to them, which they use to pay for rent and utilities, Artsakh human rights defender Gegham Stepanyan said today.

The decision defines the categories of people who will continue to receive assistance after April 2025.

‘This is a wrong approach, as these funds are provided to pay for housing and other expenses. The housing problem has not been settled, and in these conditions it is a very wrong decision to reduce the aid,’ Stepanyan noted in a conversation with journalists on Friday.

The government explained the decision by the need to encourage the displaced to look for work.

‘This is a method of coercion, the residents of Artsakh were put before the fact. It is necessary to increase their employment through various instruments,’ Stepanyan said.

According to Stepanyan, even those who work receive a very low income, which is not enough to pay the rent and bills. 

‘Even if 26,000 Artsakh residents have already found jobs, as the government claims, most of them are doing low-paying work, which means that even if they work, they will not be able to solve their life problems,’ Stepanyan noted.   

On 21 November, the Armenian government made a decision to reduce the financial aid allocated to the refugees. The decision concerns those refugees who do not have their own property in Armenia and who were receiving monthly financial aid of 40 thousand drams for rent plus 10 thousand drams for utility expenses.

From April 2025, only minors, pensioners, breadwinners, disabled persons of I and II groups will receive this assistance. The amount of the provided assistance is also reduced - to 40 thousand drams from April and further to 30 thousand drams from July 2025. -0-