Those displaced from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) as a result of the 44-day war in the fall of 2020 are protesting outside the UN office in Armenia.

They told reporters at the scene that their main demand is still to get refugee status.

Artur Stepanyan, a displaced resident of Artsakh’s Hadrut, told reporters that if they are granted refugee status, they will be able to return to their homes in the event of the deoccupation of Shushi and Hadrut by Azerbaijan.

“According to point 6 of the [trilateral] statement of November 9, [2020,] refugees and displaced persons [shall] return to their places of residence,” Stepanyan reminded.

He noted that the government of Armenia is not taking any steps toward granting them any status, as well as regarding other issues.

Stepanyan emphasized that now a new draft is being working on according to which that they will be given the status of “forcibly displaced person.”

“Everyone evades the matter of our status. The UN says: ‘It’s a political matter, your authorities should resolve that matter,'” Artur Stepanyan added.