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Findings in Lachin

1. Date of Visit

5 February 2005

2. Territory Covered by the FFM

Lachin District covers some 1,835 square kilometers of mountainous terrain. An asphalt road connects Lachin with both Stepanakert/Khankendi and Armenia. From Lachin, a northern route via Karikacha, three kilometers north of Lachin, leads to Bjuljuldjus and beyond. A south-western route leads, via Nizhny Sus, Verkhny Sus and other settlements, among them Gyusulyu, to Armenia. (The FFM checked the remaining fourth route, leading from Lachin to the border of Kubatly District, on 3 February 2005 when returning from Kubatly via Lachin to Stepanakert/Khankendi. Few settlements were observed on that route.) In Lachin, the FFM divided into four teams with two members each. Two teams covered the town of Lachin, one traveled on the northern route and another took the southern route.

3. Overview

The Lachin and NK authorities have presented disparate figures on the settlement in Lachin. They vary from 5,000 (deputy head of Lachin administration) and 6,700 (NK settlement authority) to 8,000 (other NK authorities) for the entire district. The last figure would exceed the FFM's estimates, based on the villages and settlements seen in the area. Virtually all settlements seen by or known to the FFM were at a relatively close distance from the main road from Armenia to NK except for some settlements on the southern route.

Lachin town and some of its village communities are clearly better organized than those in other districts. The local authorities spoke with some pride of their accomplishment in housing, infrastructure, and relations with Stepanakert/Khankendi and Yerevan. Housing rehabilitation and reconstruction in quantitative and qualitative terms are more advanced than in the other territories that the FFM visited. Land registration and a cadastre are being set up. In Lachin town, residence permits ('propiska') are required, something that was not mentioned in the villages. In fact, residents from all over the district spoke about various registration requirements.

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The level of organization and infrastructure declines as one leaves Lachin town, but generally exceeds that witnessed by the FFM in the other territories it visited. Electricity and running water are being provided in Lachin and in the northern areas

of Lachin District at least up to Karikacha, but have not reached all the way south – although local settlers expect them soon. Taxes are being collected, and pensions, child welfare and other forms of assistance are widely mentioned, although not in every area.

The FFM conducted numerous interviews over the entire Lachin District which revealed that private initiative and not government action was the driving force prompting a move to Lachin. The FFM has found no evidence that the authorities, in a planned and organized manner, actually asked or selected people to settle in Lachin town. They have tried, however, to create basic conditions for normal life and are, in this way, actively encouraging settlements. People interviewed have also noted with approval that the current leadership in Lachin has displayed increased energy in tackling the housing problem. The ties between Lachin and NK are more evident than in other districts. The head of the Lachin administration stated that a budget line was assigned by Stepanakert/Khankendi, and additional contributions were provided by the diaspora. People in both Lachin town as well as in local villages confirmed that they take part in local and NK-wide elections, with some even voting in Armenian national elections.

4. Locations Visited

4.1 Lachin Town, Visited by Teams 1 and 2

Size

The authorities claim that Lachin has approximately 3,000 inhabitants. This has been corroborated, to the extent possible, by the observations of both teams covering Lachin town. The mayor conceded, however, that no precise figures exist, as people come and go and the registration system is still inaccurate.

Influx

The number of new settlers arriving each year remains unclear and the town officials said that they could not specify. Some people interviewed claimed that there was no major influx anymore, while one woman mentioned that some 100 people were coming to settle every year. Most current residents said they learned about the settlement possibilities by word-of-mouth or through the mass media.

Stepanakert/Khankendi authorities told the FFM that they did not advertise these possibilities in the media but private organizations and political parties did. They specifically mentioned the Karabakh Refugee Committee in this context. Some interviewees mentioned cases of people leaving, especially among the few coming from Armenia. Settlers in Lachin town explained they needed a residence permit (‘propiska’) from local authorities to move to Lachin district, something that was not

mentioned in the villages. It was stated that four years ago the town authorities attempted to establish a cadastre allowing for registration and land taxation. However, neither land registration nor the cadastre seems to be fully operational.

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Several persons interviewed, including some displaced from Azerbaijan, showed passports of the Republic of Armenia that had been issued to them over the past year.

Origins

The FFM spoke with numerous people in Lachin town. The vast majority said they were refugees originally from various parts of Azerbaijan (Baku, Sumgayit, Ganja, Goranboy District, Khanlar District, Yevlach, Terter, and Mardakert/Agdere District and Nakhichevan). The first arrivals came as early as 1994, but the bulk came later, after periods in NK or Yerevan. In addition, one native of Lachin had returned. Some people interviewed mentioned that they come from Armenia. These were either victims of the 1988 earthquake in Gyumri and Spitak who could not find housing or people who had left Yerevan for financial reasons.

Housing

Some 85% of the houses in the center of the town have been reconstructed while a few have been newly built. The percentage of ruins increases towards the edges of town. Even on the outskirts, some houses of relatively high standard can be found and signs of initial reconstruction are visible on numerous buildings. Town officials and residents confirm that construction and rehabilitation are, in contrast to the period predating 1996, handled by the authorities. Upon arrival, settlers are frequently directed to live temporarily in small apartments in 4-story houses pending their receipt of a reconstructed house. The waiting list for such housing can be two years or more.

Infrastructure

The town authorities have an organized structure which includes a mayor, head of administration, police, conscription office and prosecutor's office. Residents take part both in local and NK elections and, according to some of those interviewed, even in the Armenian national elections. The social welfare system goes far beyond anything that the FFM saw in the other territories. It includes a hospital with seven doctors and ten nurses, a medical laboratory, a church with a priest, two schools with approximately 500 pupils, a kindergarten with some 40 children, a smaller music school, an art school, a sports school, a museum and a library. In addition, there is a diaspora Agape school and craft center. The Goris-Stepanakert/Khankendi bus stops in Lachin every day. On the outskirts of Lachin, a new Armenian cemetery has been established. Along the main road leading up to the center of Lachin, Teams 1 and 2 saw many dozen saplings that had been methodically planted and encircled for protection by metal fencing.

Economy

Nearly everyone interviewed said they had work (architects, doctors, nurses, teachers, bookkeepers, administration members, six or seven policemen, shopkeepers, prosecutor, builders, workers at a water plant). By contrast, one woman with three adult sons said they were all unemployed. There are up to twenty shops and a small post office scattered over town. No one interviewed mentioned agriculture as a key business. Some spoke of cultivating their garden plot for personal consumption, but added that the land was not very good and hard to cultivate.

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Settlement Incentives

Settlement incentives offered by the local authorities include free housing, access to property, social infrastructure, inexpensive or sometimes free electricity, running water, low taxes or limited tax exemptions. According to a number of people interviewed, newcomers to the Lachin District receive 25,000 drams per couple and 5,000 drams per child, plus a cow as a basis for starting anew. As a separate matter, they said, newcomers are now also put on a waiting list for another cow, although the wait can be up to a year. Families with small children are given expedited consideration for this benefit. This assistance was more or less favorably viewed by people interviewed. Nonetheless, a number of residents said that it was still difficult to make a living and that the money and cow given to newcomers were scant support on which to base a new beginning. Exemption from military service does not seem to be one of the benefits offered to new settlers. Lachin has a conscription office, and the FFM learned from families that their sons had to serve in the armed forces starting at the age of 18.