Lragir reports that about 400,000 Armenians fled Azerbaijan as a result of ethnic purges in that country in late 1980s and early 1990s (Armenia has a population of 3mln). About 100,000 Armenians persecuted by the Azerbaijani authorities dispersed worldwide druing that period.

Meantime, Head of the Migration Department, RA Ministry of Territorial Administration, Gagik Yeganyan reported that “there are no refugees in Armenia.” He reported the same data to John Greenway, PACE Rapporteur on Migration, Refugees and Population.

In his turn, Mr. Greenway included this information in his report on Protection of Long Term Internally Displaced Persons' Rights, and delivered it at PACE’s summer session. According to the report, Armenians were displaced only as a result of the 1988 earthquake (100,000 people), shelling and sniping of Armenia’s borderland by Azerbaijani armed forces (70,000), and natural disasters (20,000).

The same report contains data on Azerbaijani refugees. In contrast to the Armenian authorities, those of Azerbaijan handed a report on a large number of refugees over to Mr Greenway.

Noteworthy is the fact that in his report Greenway speaks of the need for refugees to return to their former places of residence. Speaking of Armenia and Azerbaijan and considering the data reported by Azerbaijan, Greenway reckons on how the Azerbaijani refugees will return and settle down in the liberated territories in Nagorno-Karabakh.

As regards the Armenian refugees (500,000), who were not even called refugees in the report, Greenway, guided by the Armenian authorities’ statements, speaks of their active integration into the Armenian society.