We want you to settle in Armenia as soon as possible: Prime Minister participates in conference dedicated to displaced persons from Karabakh

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated in the conference entitled “Inclusive Development: Achievements and Things to Do” which was dedicated to the problems of our compatriots displaced from Karabakh and steps to solve them.

The Prime Minister made a speech, welcomed the attendees, and noted that during this time they Government has been in constant contact with our compatriots displaced from Karabakh in various formats. “This issue has been among the priorities on the government’s agenda since 2023. We have also tried to outline the scope of our policies for our compatriots displaced from Karabakh through public dialogue in order to make our strategic ideas more understandable and, as I formulate it, to demonstrate greater focus on the issue of settling in Armenia,” said Nikol Pashinyan.

The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of discussions in such a format in order to listen to the feedback and suggestions voiced on the relevant decisions in a more systematic way and respond clearly. “I consider it very important that we help our sisters and brothers displaced from Karabakh to get out of this psychological state of searching. I think we should focus on helping, supporting in every way, so that, first, they receive citizenship of the Republic of Armenia, second, they settle in the Republic of Armenia and permanently link their and their families’ fate with the Republic of Armenia. This is very important both politically and psychologically,” the Prime Minister said.

Nikol Pashinyan informed that since 2023, about 145 billion drams have been allocated from the state budget of the Republic of Armenia under various programs to meet the needs of our compatriots displaced from Karabakh. The Prime Minister emphasized that it would be right for the second half and the final part of the conference to be dedicated to the tasks to be done, to the future. According to Nikol Pashinyan, the Government has reached a milestone when it should summarize the results of the previous stage of work carried out in that direction and routline the upcoming tasks to be done. According to the Prime Minister, the format of the conference gives this opportunity. “We have gathered here to voice questions and give answers. Our task is very practical: we want you to settle in the Republic of Armenia as soon as possible: citizenship, home, work, social environment. We need to receive signals from you on what else we need to do in order to resolve this issue as effectively as possible,” Nikol Pashinyan summed up and wished those present fruitful work.

Next, a panel discussion was held on the topic "The Process of Socio-Economic Inclusion of Armenians Displaced from Karabakh", in which the heads of concerned departments participated and answered questions that mainly related to housing provision, educational, healthcare, social, employment programs, and the procedure for obtaining citizenship.

Summing up the discussion, the Prime Minister expressed gratitude for the discussion, emphasizing that it showed that many issues have already been resolved, but there are issues of citizenship and housing, on which work still needs to be done, certain adjustments need to be made so that the decisions have a proper legal basis. “In general, the topic or title under which we are working is care - care for our sisters and brothers displaced from Karabakh, but this care also has components - we must show care for other officials who make these decisions. An important component of this care is the balance of decisions,” said Nikol Pashinyan and added that it is necessary to make such balanced decisions so that no negative feelings arise around these decisions either among our compatriots from Karabakh, or among compatriots who previously received Armenian citizenship and live in Armenia.

In this context, the Prime Minister also emphasized: "In other words, these nuances are very important, in general, it is very important to maintain balance in all decisions. It is also important that our decisions, speeches do not contradict the foreign and regional policies we are implementing. You see, today we have established peace with Azerbaijan and we cannot make decisions that will undermine, collapse that established peace, and return us to the logic of conflict."

Nikol Pashinyan also noted: “We must end the wanderings, we must end the emigration. We have you, you have a state, and that state is the Republic of Armenia. Today, we want, our entire strategy is based on this, that you settle down, both in the physical and psychological sense of the word, in the Republic of Armenia. And together, we will make this state of ours, which is a great blessing for us, for the Armenian people, more prosperous, safer, more secure, and ultimately, we will be able to move beyond the logic of survival to the logic of development and prosperity, the logic of peace. I think that we should focus on solving these tasks.”

The Prime Minister once again expressed gratitude for the discussion, noting that work will be carried out in the future on the issues raised and mechanisms for solving them will be developed.