Today, a regular meeting of the Government took place, at the beginning of which Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan referred to the forced deportation of our compatriots from Nagorno Karabakh due to Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing policy. Then, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan and the heads of the responsible agencies presented the progress of the work being carried out to solve the problems of our compatriots in Nagorno Karabakh.

In his speech, Prime Minister Pashinyan, in particular, noted:

"Dear participants of the Government session,

Dear people,

The exit of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians due to the ethnic cleansing policy implemented by Azerbaijan continues.

The analysis shows that no more Armenians will be left in Nagorno-Karabakh in the coming days. This is a direct act of ethnic cleansing and repatriation and what we have warned the international community about for a long time.

Statements condemning ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh by various international players are essential. Still, concrete actions do not follow them. In that case, these statements will only be seen as creating moral statistics for history so that in the future, different countries can formally dissociate themselves from this crime, saying that we have condemned it. If decisions of a political and legal nature equivalent to the declarations of condemnation are not followed, the curses become the result of acts of consent.

As for the Government of the Republic of Armenia, our primary duty today is to accept our sisters and brothers forcibly displaced from Nagorno Karabakh as carefully as possible and to ensure their most urgent needs.

I want to ask Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan to present the currently available statistics on forcibly displaced persons who arrived in Armenia from Nagorno Karabakh.

Come on, Mr. Khachatryan."

Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan - Thank you, dear Prime Minister. Dear colleagues, as of 10:00 a.m. today, the total number of forcibly displaced people is 66,500. Moreover, I would like to draw attention to the fact that most of these people, especially those in Armenia, were replaced yesterday and yesterday. Tonight, too, that number continued to grow.

In general, if during the first two days, on September 24 and 25, a total of 7,500 and 1,500 people, totaling 9,000 people, were displaced, then only on September 26, the total number of displaced people was 22,800, and yesterday: 26 thousand 600: Tonight from 24:00 to 10:00 in the morning the number of displaced people was 8 thousand 100: And the number of those people does not decrease. That is, the intensity with which they continue to cross the border remains the same.

I also want to draw attention to one circumstance: We are, of course, working to identify those persons who, at that moment, immediately turn to our respective bodies with any need. We have created significant points in Goris and Vaik, which handle questions directly on a 24-hour basis. Work is underway: We also have operational data on the number of people who have found shelter with our support in different marzes. Their number is currently close to 11 thousand, and the distribution between the marzes is almost the same, or somewhat more, The number of people who found shelter in Kotayk and Syunik. They are more evenly distributed in other regions.

Naturally, I would like to draw attention to two circumstances and also ask that our displaced brothers and sisters treat the situation with a particular understanding that perhaps not all of them are offered the conditions that they would consider preferable at the same time: In the requirements of this large flow, operational management is complicated: I would ask that, especially these days, what is proposed to be accepted as a given opportunity and solve the problem of the day.

Shortly, of course, we also plan to use various support tools to find the preferred methods that will meet the needs of different people: In one case, they may be accompanied by employment offers; in another case, guided by other criteria, but we are short on those solutions, Mr. Prime Minister As soon as we solve this significant first problem, we will also address the remaining needs.

I want to highlight one more circumstance: we have been informed by our colleagues in Karabakh that there are quite a few people who are still in Stepanakert because they do not have their means of transport. We agree that we will support these people by providing them with appropriate buses: We have already mobilized 35 large-capacity buses in Goris buses that still need to go to Stepanakert. There is an agreement with the Russian peacekeepers that they will provide the escort. Still, we are waiting for the road congestion to lighten a little so we can organize this transportation for those still in Stepanakert. Why are we still waiting? Until yesterday evening, the average car that reached the Kornidzor crossing was on the road for 30-35 hours. If we direct those buses to Stepanakert, they will have to stand in line for more than 12 hours; we are waiting for the traffic to lighten up a little so that the crossing will be made. One, It will only be possible to organize it in stages. The move may have to be made twice. That is also why we are trying to make it easier to manage it quickly.

Mr. Prime Minister, I would like to use this occasion to raise another issue: Many citizens and private organizations are contacting us, asking how they can directly support the needs of displaced persons. We have agreed with the Minister of Finance that the treasury donation account will be opened today. Information about it will be published on the Ministry's website. Therefore, all those organizations that want to provide financial support will have access to that information. We will also report on how those funds were used in the previously announced order.

Centers have been opened in all cities, which, under the coordination of our humanitarian center, work to understand people's problems and provide solutions to them. Under the coordination of the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, regional governors carry out this work 24 hours a day. I will ask Mr. Sanosyan to fill in some details here to the question, and then, if questions arise, I will also give additional clarifications about them.

Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan - Thank you, dear Prime Minister and colleagues. As Mr. Khachatryan mentioned, as of 8 a.m., we have 10 thousand 967 citizens registered and accommodated by regional communities: they are mainly hotels, guest houses, and certain host families or other buildings adapted for such needs. Continuing this process continuously, we implement 24-hour duty in 64 communities; there is a task force, and there are specific people who are both through calls and physically there to help. We will be able to serve our displaced compatriots and take care of their needs.

Indeed, at the initial stage, there was a problem of location. Understanding that this is a specific temporary process, they will work with the working group in such a way as to speed up the process, taking into account the size of the flows. We are discussing that our widely displaced compatriots can leave Gyumri alone. When we have similar conditions in Ashotsk, Amasia, or Artik, I will ask them to agree we will be able to deploy in such a distribution so that all communities are included in these works.

In connection with our future decisions, the Government will implement various programs. We now also have other tables showing who the specific persons are, who are in hotels, guest houses, host families, and in those houses where citizens were willing to provide their homes.

We work with CHP, gas, and others, take care of the relevant needs, and bring it to a proper appearance to install it. We regulate the system several times a day through telephone sessions and meetings.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan - Very good, now that we are comparing the statistics, in fact, 66 thousand 500 of the forcibly displaced people are already in the Republic of Armenia, but we have provided shelter for 10 thousand 967 people: It should be clarified that protection is offered to all forcibly displaced people, but they are not Most of them have pre-determined places: In any case, they say that they have addresses of lodgings, which maybe their relatives provide, etc., and they go to their pre-determined addresses: But we keep in touch with those people in order to manage further social and other problems, because it is possible for people to go to the house of a relative, for example: they will stay for a week, after a week they will find it more convenient not to continue staying there, and so on: Or it is possible that people have a place to stay, but have other needs, say: food, utility bills in connection with the payment, and a cap will be kept with them so that this support also reaches our citizens.

We are, in fact, currently solving the problem of short-term accommodation. Our next task is to implement a medium-term accommodation program. If I understand correctly, we have pre-determined 3 marzes: Ghegharkunik, Vayots Dzor, and Syunik, so in these marzes, the issue of medium-term accommodation of displaced persons will be addressed. We solve with the following logic: by the mechanism of host families and the mechanism of renting apartments.

Of course, this stage is also critical. To offer brothers and sisters some questions. Of course, there are many questions in the long term. We must have the answers to those questions and, of course, also evaluate them. Long-term solutions should be based on that logic.

In addition to the Ketsutyan, i.e., in addition to the program for providing food, we are also considering the issue of issuing food cards; we have this experience from before. We are talking about such cards, in which the available funds can be used only to purchase food; of course, We will see additional necessities and needs in the provided shelters. Also, in the next stage, we should include the citizens benefiting from certain social services as soon as possible in the social services system of the Republic of Armenia so that they, accordingly, will also receive those services. Do I understand correctly that pensioners will receive pensions, etc., and so on?

And we, of course, have to solve this problem. Of course, the good news is that our labor market is lively right now. We must also support our brothers and sisters to quickly find work in various systems. The employees are in the education system. In the system, the workers in the health care system, the workers in the health care system, etc.. Only those who do not have such specific connections will support them directly in the labor market: in the fields of agriculture and business. Of course, we will do everything to help them, but our goal should be to ensure that people can meet their needs with decent work, and we should keep sight of this critical need.

Of course, we are talking about non-disabled and working-age people, but I say we have a slightly different approach in the case of pensions; we will pay their assistance within the framework of the pension system of the Republic of Armenia, even if they are involved in the post-payment system, this is an additional social bonus that can support us in this matter.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan - Mr. Prime Minister, with your permission, Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Khachatryan has a question: You said that 10 thousand are in government-provided lodgings, apartments, others have a place to stay, or relatives, or their property, or hosts of families, or is there also a particular section either in tent conditions or homeless, please say that too.

Deputy Governor Tigran Khachatryan: If there is a homeless person, it is probably a matter of hours because otherwise, we settle all these issues. At each point, in Goris and Vaik, our compatriots' first question is: Do they need us to provide them with housing, or do they know where they are going? There are currently 11,000 people who said they need our support.

Of course, there are settlements in the process, which continue and are in progress. Still, by and large, all those not among the 11 thousand and the cases in the settlement process said that they know where they are going. Of course, we understand that this knowledge may be somewhat conditional, and after a short time, they will also need it; as Mr. Prime Minister mentioned, we also have a plan to resolve these issues. In other words, we will now prioritize all those currently in need of support and return to offering long-term programs as well. Suppose there are families who, for example, imagine their long-term employment in the Gëgharkukuni region, and we can provide them with a medium-term program for renting an apartment. In that case, later, we will also offer a long-term agenda. Still, the most critical problem is that there is no person without a cover today, and there should not be.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan: Mr. Mirzoyan, the exact answer to your question is as follows. When the question is raised at the moment of crossing the border, they declare that they have cats. But we also know cases of those who announced that they have cats, and after 5-6 hours, they return to some social service and say that they still need them.

Naturally, we don't say there; you didn't say it, you say it now; there is no difference when they speak. When they say: we provide our prepared, pre-determined appropriate places. This should also be understood when organizing, inventorying, or in the republic. What places are there that we can provide? That is, they are guest houses, hotels, dormitories, and available spaces of all kinds, and it must be said that they are all, so to speak, naturally not of the same quality; it could not be, and that is normal. It's about short-term accommodation. There is no possibility of such a place of the same level in the future: let's assume 30 thousand rooms or apartments. They are different, and an attempt is made to manage.

We don't have any place in Vranaya. They can be of different quality, but we are discussing building conditions. Moreover, a significant circumstance, we are also using the potential of volunteers because we receive paper statistics, which show the quality of services. They don't give us much information about ourselves: We are also trying to follow, visit, and participate through volunteers to get an idea of what the conditions are like because it is understandable that the government representatives did not go to check every one of the 48,000 places that have been prepared.

At the second pace, we will also contact people to assess the problem and how to solve it. Of course, it can be the other way around, because we have taken hotels and naturally, people cannot stay in those hotels for a long time, because it means to those businesses In general, withdraw from the market: Now we are urgently accommodating people, then we will accommodate people in the medium term, naturally, those hotels would like to return to their normal activities as soon as possible: This should also be taken into account. So, there are several layers here. Come on, Mr. Mkrtchyan.

Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Narek Mkrtchyan - Mr. Prime Minister, I want to inform you that those people who said that they know where they are going but for one reason or another had problems with accommodation are mobilized by a joint social 49 regional centers of the service, and in addition to the fact that the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Territorial Administration and the Ministry of Internal Affairs are now carrying out the service in Kornidzor, Goris, and Vaikum: these people are directed to specific regional centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, from there the contact is established with the colleagues of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, during certain hours, a bus is provided by the community, by ТAI, by the city of Yerevan, and these buses are already sent to the settlements, the inns that we already know.

In the last one or two days, more than 1,000 people have been referred and placed in different regions. You also mentioned volunteers. You know that we have launched a platform. All our citizens who want to be involved in this or that volunteer work can register. More than 800 people have already signed up, and we will soon direct these planned volunteer activities and be able to more effectively use the potential of all those who want to provide some support in this situation.

Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan - If possible, I will continue the thoughts of my colleagues: although we have accommodated 11 thousand of 66 thousand people, we have enough information about the others: there aren't any people outside, except for those who may be at the point of Goris at a particular time, or in Vaiki Ketum, or a regional municipality, or a community until they are placed.

And now, we are carrying out a complete accounting, even those people who have an apartment, or hosting, a roof, an acquaintance, or a friend, where they are located. However, we are trying to account for all the information, and we will meet everyone's needs. When our compatriots arrive in Kornidzor, in addition to the fact that we try to understand how many people are in the car to take care of the necessities and nutritional conditions, we give them an information sheet on which 64 community centers and the names and phone numbers of the center managers, who can be contacted on the road, are indicated, clarify: when, where to come: in addition to those 64 places in the republic, there are also 40 community centers, there are working groups in 10 governorates, our citizens can come: That is, there are about 110, 120 places where there are working groups 24 hours a day and can they came, served them, took care of their needs.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan - Very good. In any case, we should constantly recheck the quality of the services offered by volunteers but use control levers so that what we say here is also true. That is, the existence of our decisions and goals should coincide, or be as close as possible, because in some places they can, again, I say, be related to quality, related to the cabin, but on the other hand, I say: this is a short-term problem.

For example, it can happen that in one case, the inn is perfect, and in another case, it is not so good. Such cases can also occur, but I say that the reason for this is that, for example, we take over all the hotels in the region or available hotels; I do not say all are better, the other is worse, one is a hotel, the other is a hostel, one is a high-class hotel, the other is a low-class hotel: We accommodate people in the order of their arrival, without considering other circumstances, and it is logical. Come on, Mrs. Manasyan.

Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan - Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. I wanted to make a particular record; since this is a process related to the protection of human rights, the Human Rights Defender and the defense staff are also monitoring the context of this entire process: I spent the day in Goris, and I also spent the night in the corresponding center. We immediately report the problems; we are also immediately in contact with our state agency partners.

Several problems have been solved on the spot, but some problems still require a solution process. Therefore, many issues must be recorded promptly and quickly as possible, including that we solve them. Citizens are also, in many cases, applications, and we are trying to find solutions within the framework of the process as a result of cooperation with state bodies. Of course, I want to record that the goal is the same, but there may be specific problems within the process; there are problems registered in this regard with us or the state. We should be together with the authorities, and we will try to solve these problems together. Thank you.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan: Dear colleagues, I want to address another critical issue. I must also record that at the checkpoint and before the checkpoint, we document that arbitrary arrests are taking place on the part of Azerbaijan, which is an alarming fact. In all such cases, we must also record that Our state bodies must take adequate steps to protect the rights of arbitrarily arrested persons, including in international courts. This should be on our agenda until these issues are adequately addressed.