The Government of the Republic of Armenia

Anna Zhamakochyan, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Armen Ghazaryan, Head of the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Zaruhi Manucharyan, Press Secretary of the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, presented information from the "Humanitarian Center" on the process of state support programs aimed at solving the humanitarian problems of people forcibly displaced from Nagorno Karabakh.

Zaruhi Manucharyan first referred to the decision approved at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, according to which the forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno Karabakh will receive 50,000 AMD of social assistance to cover primary consumer needs for two months, in November and December. Presenting details, Anna Zhamakochyan noted: "If the members of the given family live in hotels or guesthouses or are not in the Republic of Armenia or had a registration of the Republic of Armenia before September 19 of this year or had funds exceeding the threshold of 2 million AMD in their bank accounts as of October 2 will not be beneficiaries of the measure. This 2 million AMD monetary threshold limitation applies only to the given person. This does not apply to family members, including children. The limitation of the monetary threshold of 2 million does not apply to persons receiving compensation from the National Servicemen's Insurance Fund”. Anna Zhamakochyan added that the acceptance of applications for this program will start from next week. The Minister of Labor and Social Affairs emphasized that the money will be paid in a non-cash way, and in cases where a person does not have a bank account and has a problem visiting the bank, there will be certain services to deliver bank cards to the given locations. This service will be provided to the following social groups: people over 75 years old, people with disabilities of the first and second groups.

Next, Zaruhi Manucharyan gave clarifications to a number of questions, which are often asked by people forcibly displaced from Nagorno Karabakh regarding social support programs. The first question concerns whether the persons who did not receive the one-time support of 100,000 AMD and the support of 40+10,000 AMD can apply for the support planned for November and December. In response to this question, Zaruhi Manucharyan stated that yes, they can apply if they are beneficiaries of these programs, but have not yet received the funds under these programs.

To the question whether these support programs also apply to compatriots from Nagorno-Karabakh who moved to Armenia after the 2020 war, Zaruhi Manucharyan answered that more than 2 dozen programs have been implemented for them, and these programs apply only to people forcibly displaced after September 19. Clarification was also given to the question that if family members live at different addresses, in that case, how many applications should be filled out. According to the clarification, the application should be submitted based on the address. Clarifications were also presented on other issues.

Head of the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Armen Ghazaryan, presented details on the acquisition of citizenship of the Republic of Armenia. Accordingly, the acceptance of citizenship applications has already started. For this purpose, it is necessary to visit the office of the Migration and Citizenship Service or any passport service in the regions and submit the applications.

According to Armen Ghazaryan, by the October 26 decision of the government, the persons forcibly displaced from Nagorno Karabakh were granted temporary protection status and they were recognized as refugees. In order to receive a refugee certificate, one must also visit passport services, fill out an application, change the registered address and receive a temporary protection status, refugee certificate. "There are many questions and concerns about how a person can be registered at a given address if the owner's consent is not available. A person can approach the passport service, submit an application for actual registration, an appropriate check by the police will be carried out. The police will provide the passport service with a relevant reference, based on which the person will be registered at the address of the given residence," explained Armen Ghazaryan. He also added that registration does not create property liability.