Residents of Shurnukh and Vorotan villages to get government assistance

YEREVAN, February 3. /ARKA/. Residents of Shurnukh and Vorotan settlements in Armenia's southern province of Syunik, whose houses appeared on the other side of the border inside Azerbaijan after the end of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh will receive government assistance, Labor and Social Affairs Minister Mesrop Arakelyan said on Wednesday during an extraordinary meeting of the parliament.

He said a working group was set up that visited the settlements and fixed all the social and housing problems of their residents.

He said the residents who have lost their homes and who must be provided with a new one will be receiving 68 thousand drams for each family member per month and 300 thousand drams as one-time assistance until provided with new housing.

Also, according to him, the government is considering ways to increase the efficiency of social guarantees for citizens of border regions, including through legislative changes.

He noted that the ministry has the capacity to provide temporary housing to these people, but there are still problems in providing social housing.

“Legislative changes are planned, after the adoption of which it will be possible to solve this problem within a year,” Arakelyan said.

After the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan signed a statement on the cessation of all hostilities in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) on November 9, more than 190 settlements in Artsakh and adjacent seven regions came under the control of Azerbaijan.

As a result, the borders of the Syunik region in the south of Armenia (including the administrative center of Kapan) appeared to be in close proximity to the new borders of Azerbaijan, drawn up during the Soviet times.

Residents of some settlements in Syunik were protesting against the decision of Armenian armed forces to dismantle their military posts and withdraw from strategically important heights, which came under control of Azerbaijani armed forces. -0-