On February 11, the Staff of Artsakh's Human Rights Ombudsman headed by Arsen Sarajyan, the acting ombudsman, visited the village of Shosh in the Askeran Region to get acquainted with the work carried out to restore normal life in the community and to assess the situation of protection of citizens’ rights.

According to the head of the community, necessary work is being carried out to return the population of the community to their places of residence. More than half of the residents have returned.

As a result of the hostilities, most of the agricultural lands of the community came under the control of Azerbaijan which creates serious problems in terms of employment in the community. Demining works are being carried out in the community, awareness measures are being taken among the population to avoid the contact with explosives that threaten life and health.

Since January 11, the school has been operating, and the kindergarten will resume its activities next week. Public concerns have been raised about the safety of children attending school as it is located near the ''Karmir Shuka-Shosh'' road and children have to cross the road in order to get to school which is occasionally crossed by Azerbaijani convoys.

The Ombudsman’s Staff got acquainted with the issue on the spot and witnessed the transit of Azerbaijani convoys accompanied by Russian peacekeepers. Although school attendance is organized by the RA police, however in order to make safety of children more controllable, there’s an objective need to establish a patrol near the school and the kindergarten to exclude other persons from entering the area.

For security reasons, it’s important to promptly establish a night lightning system in the community.