Seven Armenian Citizens in Abkhazia Struggling to Return Home

Seven citizens of Armenia who traveled to the Republic of Abkhazia are unable to return to their homeland. The individuals, who contacted NEWS.am, stated that they are not working there and have been deprived of their means of survival.

“Three months ago, my friends and I came to the Republic of Abkhazia to work in construction. Initially, everything was fine, but then construction activities became inactive due to the coronavirus, and the checkpoints were closed. Given the situation, we reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they told us to contact the consulate in Sochi. We explained our situation but received no response. A month later, the foreign ministry replied, quoting, 'Hello, we are working on this issue and will inform you of any results.' However, the consulate responded, quoting, 'Russia's borders remain closed to foreigners. You are in a country with which the Republic of Armenia has no diplomatic relations (you are aware of this when you went there). The consulate is only accredited in Russia. In this case, you can only seek assistance from the Armenian community in Abkhazia.' Right now, we are just trying to survive; we don’t even have housing or work. I have heard that the ambassador in Russia is offering jobs to those interested. We would at least like help to get to Russia, as we all have relatives there and can take advantage of that opportunity to find work,” said Arshak Kochinyan from Abkhazia.