Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović has been in Armenia since 16 October, where she holds meetings with officials and forcibly displaced Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to the press service of the Prime Minister of Armenia, on 18 October, Dunja Mijatović met with the head of the Armenian government, Nikol Pashinyan. The meeting discussed the situation resulting from the forced displacement of more than 100 thousand Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of Azerbaijan’s policy of ethnic cleansing.
“Dunja Mijatović noted that her goal is to assess existing needs, including those related to ensuring the rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh,” the statement said.
On the same day, Mijatović met with Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan, the government press service reports. At the meeting, Khachatryan briefed the interlocutors on the actions of the Armenian government aimed at providing refugees with housing and other priority needs, and also outlined medium- and long-term measures to ensure stable living conditions for them.
The Office of the Ombudsman of Armenia reports that on October 17 and 18, Dunya Mijatovic, accompanied by the Ombudsman of Armenia Anahit Manasyan, visited temporary shelters for refugees in the Kotayk region - the communities of Akhavnadzor and Tsakhkadzor.
“Individual conversations were held with forcibly displaced persons, the conditions of their detention were studied, a needs assessment was carried out, the processes of providing medical care and services, food, and personal hygiene items were carried out. Particular attention was paid to issues related to ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities. The internally displaced persons told the Council of Europe Ombudsman and Commissioner for Human Rights about the hardships they had to endure and the problems caused by forced displacement,” the statement said.
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