Pashinian said that “there was a rather disturbing number” of Karabakh Armenians leaving Armenia in the first days of their exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh in late September.
“We assumed then that in most cases people were just going abroad at the invitation of their relatives and that they would later return,” said the premier, stressing that the situation in this regard “has stabilized” now.
Pashinian described it as a major indicator that decisions made by his government in relation to Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians are “having a certain effect.”
More than 100,000 Armenians, which is virtually the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh, fled their homes and crossed into Armenia following Azerbaijan’s one-day military offensive in September.
The Armenian government responded by providing the displaced people with both financial assistance and housing relief. Those of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians who did not have a place to stay in Armenia were provided with temporary shelters in community housing. The government further allocated pecuniary aid to the displaced people to help them pay for rent and utilities.
Still, Pashinian said then that of those Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians who crossed into Armenia more than 3,000 left the country.
Talking about the positive effects of his government’s decisions, Pashinian at the same time stressed that his words should not be interpreted “as if we have completely solved the problems of these people.”
“At some point our policies towards our brothers and sisters who were forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh and citizens of the Republic of Armenia will become identical,” Pashinian said.
In his remarks today Pashinian also said that Armenia has set a new record in terms of registered jobs – 730,000 in a country of some 3 million people.
“Around 183,000 new jobs have been created in Armenia since May 2018. And our economic dynamics show that jobs will continue to be created as a result of the full involvement of our brothers and sisters forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh in the labor market,” he said.