Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

On September 19, 2023, the armed forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan carried out military operations against Nagorno-Karabakh in the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping forces. Under the threat of armed force, the population of Nagorno-Karabakh was forced to leave their homes and, within days, was forcibly displaced to the Republic of Armenia. 

To support people who found themselves in a de facto refugee status, the Government of the Republic of Armenia undertook extensive humanitarian aid efforts, implementing various financial support programs and assessing needs, created a location-based registration system in local self-governments and regional councils based on the working groups formed to register forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh. The process of these support programs, as well as the existing legislative gaps related to the legal status of forcibly displaced persons, negatively affect the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance to people who find themselves in difficult life situations as a result of the humanitarian crisis. For this reason, within the framework of legal support , the Organization also submits recommendations on legal regulations to state bodies in order to make appropriate changes. 

For the protection of the rights of forcibly displaced citizens, Helsinki Citizens' Assembly-Vanadzor provided free legal support from November 2023 to October 30, 2024 through contact persons and lawyers in all regions of the Republic of Armenia. The purpose of legal support was to facilitate the access of forcibly displaced persons to the social support programs provided by the government through legal and informational advice, to monitor the effectiveness of the implementation of state and community support programs in the regions, to present recommendations for increasing the effectiveness of the implemented programs and further policies and strategies. 

This report is the new edition of the report already published in July 2024.

The scope of legal support provided by the organization: 

Since November 2023, the Organization has provided legal support to forcibly displaced persons in the direction of ensuring accessibility, availability, and implementation of social support programs approved by the RA government's decrees.

The legal support has been provided in Yerevan and all regions of the Republic of Armenia through 12 contact persons (one in each region, and two in Yerevan) and 7 lawyers, who, through an alert, established contact with forcibly displaced persons living in their region of activity, carried out home visits, assessed needs, and in case of necessity, prepared legal documents addressed to the RA departments on issues related to resolving the problems of forcibly displaced Artsakh residents.

Between November 2023 and November 1, 2024, the Organization's contact persons and lawyers had  meetings with and provided consultations to 1,967 forcibly displaced persons.

As a result of legal consultation, to date, 444 letters and 3 claims have been sent to various state bodies within the framework of the problems recorded.

• RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs 349 letters

• RA Ministry of Internal Affairs 45 letters

• RA Ministry of Health 15 letters

• RA Government Humanitarian Center 14 letters

• RA General Prosecutor's Office 2 crime reports

• RA Ministry of Justice 9 letters

• RA Ministry of Defense 3 letters

• RA Ministry of Finance (Central Bank) 8 letters

• The Civil Court of General Jurisdiction of the Republic of Armenia: 3 claims (2 applications for the confirmation of legally significant facts, 1 application for confirmation of  the fact of a child's parentage).