As of now, no work is being carried out to evacuate the residents of Berdzor and some other communities. This was announced by Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Human Rights Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan, during a discussion.

Stepanyan noted that he had contacted the representatives of those communities Thursday, but there is no information regarding their being relocated.

"First of all, the Artsakh authorities themselves need to take care of their residents. And I don't consider it possible that there would be a situation where those people would be held hostage [by Azerbaijan]; steps are being taken in this regard," he said.

According to Stepanyan, the residents of both Berdzor (Lachin) town and Aghavno village benefit from the same privileges that are set for displaced persons.

"I have certain information that among the possible options—if the matter eventually comes to that—it is discussed that the residents of Aghavno will be accommodated in the Hin Shen and Mets Shen communities, and the same programs will be implemented for the residents of Berdzor that are implemented for the other displaced persons. They may be allocated dwellings in Armenia. At the moment, there are many issues," said the Artsakh ombudsman.