Armenia`s Ministry Social Affairs leaces Artsakh families without  gas, electricity

ArmInfo. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia has deprived Artsakh residents living in one of the former boarding schools in Dilijan of access to electricity and gas, and this is in conditions when the thermometer drops below zero. This is reported by Armenian media, which have prepared a number of reports from the scene. Moreover, among those who were left in these harsh winter conditions without electricity  and gas and families with small children, there are only more than a dozen people.

It is noted that the disconnection of utilities was a consequence of  the decision of the Ministry. For example, the only salvation for a  large family from the village of Azokh in the Hadrut region was a  potbelly stove. After the decision of the Ministry of Social Labor to  cut off power to the boarding school building, the potbelly stove is  the only means of providing a family of seven with heat and hot  meals, as well as meeting natural household needs.

The media recalls that the family moved to Dilijan after the 2020  war, when Hadrut was occupied by Azerbaijan. At the moment, the minor  children of Rita Hakobyan's family - 6, 11 and 12 years old - live in  cold and dark conditions.

The family refused the Ministry's offer to move to Spitak, since the  father of the family had difficulty finding a job in Dilijan, and it  is not a fact that he will be able to find any work in the new place.  As it became known, the family was deprived of benefits in 2023 and  does not receive financial assistance for forcibly displaced persons,  since, according to the authorities, they do not have problems with  housing.

Karen Nasibyan, the son of a theoretical teacher and composer of the  Artsakh anthem Armen Nasibyan, an Artsakh composer who taught piano  in Stepanakert, found himself in a similar situation. The 58-year-old  musician admitted that in the current situation he had repeatedly  thought about committing suicide, but could not decide on this step,  he did not have enough courage. He noted that the Ministry of Social  Labor offered him to live in a small room in a dormitory in Yerevan  with an unknown man. His request for a separate room in the dormitory  was refused. Nasibyan said that after the competent authorities cut  off the power to the boarding school, he eats dry food. His diet is  bread and cheese, and sometimes he gets by by heating tea outside and  boiling eggs, thanks to an outlet that was installed outside near one  of the buildings of the boarding school several days ago. The socket  was installed by the boarding school staff after the uproar raised on  social networks in connection with the situation in which several  Artsakh families found themselves.

The refugees also said that they were being evicted from this  building, since the Ministry of Social Labor intends to sell the  boarding school building. The Ministry assures that this information  is not true, although as we know, there is no smoke without fire.

In connection with the scandal that has erupted, the Armenian  Ministry of Social Labor stated that repair work is being carried out  in the building. According to them, after the repairs are completed,  it should become a Social Housing Fund for forcibly displaced  citizens from Artsakh. The department claims that the building is  currently "not subject to use due to unsafe conditions and lack of  utilities."

The Ministry of Social Labor further assured that the remaining  families are also already planning to leave the social housing,  although the Artsakh residents themselves, in a conversation with the  Armenian media, reported that the housing offered by the Ministry is  not suitable for them, and they themselves are unable to rent housing  due to high rental prices.

Human rights activist Zhanna Aleksanyan responded to such an  outrageous attitude of the Armenian authorities towards the Artsakh  residents, noting that the families who settled in the boarding  school in Dilijan are actually deprived of gas and electricity, as  was the case during the blockade.

"Now they are experiencing the same feelings - physical and mental -  in Armenia. The ministry said that they were offered another  solution. Although many accepted this offer and left the building,  those who remained faced new problems. The proposals made can only  worsen their situation. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Labor and  other responsible persons continue to live carefree," Aleksanyan  summed up.

On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan, under the pretext of an  "anti-terrorist operation", committed another act of aggression  against Artsakh. This was preceded by an almost 10-month blockade of  the unrecognized republic. Since the enemy aggression that began in  the fall of 2020, which in September 2023 ended in the complete  ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, over 150 thousand Artsakh residents have  lost their homeland and become refugees.