To date, the Government of Armenia hasn’t released official data on the number of Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) who have temporarily settled in Armenia, and even though top officials have announced certain figures, the figures have mostly contradicted each other.

Recently, Armenian News-NEWS.am addressed the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia with a request to clarify, based on the latest statistics, how many Armenians of Artsakh are temporarily residing in Armenia after being displaced as a result of the war and how many of them have returned to Artsakh. Although the minister has regularly released data on the number of Armenians of Artsakh who have temporarily taken shelter in Armenia, the ministry reported that it doesn’t record-register Armenians of Artsakh temporarily residing in Armenia.

In March, for instance, former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia Mesrop Arakelyan had declared that there are 25-30,000 Armenians of Artsakh temporarily residing in Armenia, but in January, the Russian Ministry of Defense declared that over 50,000 Armenians of Artsakh have returned to Artsakh, and they were mainly those who moved to Artsakh in buses.