According to the country’s Statistical Committee, these areas have “lost” nearly 40,000 people over the past five years. Many villages have been completely abandoned.
The reasons for this outflow are evident: deep disappointment with the ongoing situation, uncertainty about the future, concerns about safety, and accumulating social problems.
Those who leave admit to their relatives that after the 44-day Karabakh War, fear and pessimism in the border areas have only intensified, prompting the mass exodus.
“People are leaving because they became disillusioned after the war,” say those who remain. “There is a constant shortage of basic necessities.”
According to statistics, in the summer of 2019, Gegharkunik had a population of about 230,000, most of whom lived in villages. However, the pandemic, the 44-day war, and regular clashes on the border with Azerbaijan have significantly affected the situation, reducing the region’s population by 13,000.
Residents of Sevan note that most young people prefer to move to Yerevan, as there are very few job opportunities in Sevan, and no state enterprises at all. Gegharkunik is officially one of the poorest regions in Armenia: one in three people here lives below the poverty line, and the region has the highest extreme poverty rates in the country. Almost 5 percent of the population can barely afford to spend at least $3 a day. Even those who find work receive the lowest wages in Armenia.
In conversations with a correspondent from the Armenian service of “Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty,” residents of Gegharkunik complain that life is becoming increasingly difficult: people are getting poorer, money is catastrophically scarce, and survival is becoming more challenging each year. They say the government is unable to solve these problems.
