Everyone knows the family of Mourad Margaryan in Berdzor, the regional center of the Kashatagh district in Artsakh.

Mourad and his wife Parandzem are the parents of 11 kids. The day we arrived, the older boys were out in the valley picking berries for sale.

This large family, living in an area once known as the Lachin corridor, gets by on 141,000 AMD per month (about $400).

Mourad receives a salary of 45,000 and the government gives a 96,000 AMD stipend for the children.

Parandzem says she would like to grow some vegetables in the garden for sale but that there’s no water. It only flows for about one hour every day.

She says that the family moved here from the Lernapat village in 1998. There were only 4 kids back then.

In 2009 the Artsakh government allocated a 4 room house to the family. It’s not a new house and has its share of problems – leaky roof, damp walls, etc.

Despite the problems, Parandzem says that life in Berdzor is easier than Armenia. People moving to the area get a number of subsidies from the government.

For those wanting to build a house, authorities chip in with 2 million AMD worth of construction materials. There’s also a 240,000 AMD livestock credit available.

The parents say that Berdzor is where they propose to stay but that the children will decide for themselves once having grown up.

As we were about to leave, Andranik, one of the sons burst into the room boasting that they had sold two pails of blackberries.

The 13 year-old boy told us that on an average day they could pick 10 buckets of berries and sell one for 3,000 AMD ($8). They hand the proceeds over to their mother.

The Melikyan’s from Ashtarak

The Melikyan’s are another family that relocated in Berdzor from Armenia.

Mrs. Gayaneh told us they moved from Ashtarak in 2001 when family members were laid off from work.

The initial idea to move to Berdzor belonged to Garik, her son. He had visited with a friend and fell in love with the town. The whole family decided to move soon after.

“Much has changes over the past 10 tears. Most people have jobs and the rest work on their plots of land. Of course there are problems, the main one being water. Water is supplied by the hour and it’s not enough during the summer heat,” Gayaneh said.

And what about talk that these “liberated” territories will be handed back at the negotiating table?

“I really don’t think that Berdzor or any other areas will be returned. If I had any doubts, we wouldn’t be here. You just simply don’t give back lands liberated by the blood of so many young men,” said Gayaneh.

The Zournatchyan’s from Ashtarak

The Zournatchyan family is a new arrival to Berdzor. They moved here 4 months ago.

Hasmik says her husband, Gagik, was a tractor driver back in Ashtarak and only did seasonal work.

“A friend working in the local administration offered my husband permanent work and he took it. We came with our two young kids. The third was born here in Kashatagh,” said Hasmik.

The young mom isn’t sure if they will stay. They are living in someone else’s house. They haven’t yet received the house promised them by the government.

But she says that they are slowly getting used to their new surroundings even though they have to buy things on credit from the local stores.

It’s the same with many residents despite the fact that most have jobs.

Moushegh moved to Berdzor from Goris 16 years ago. He now runs his own store and says he makes enough to pay the family expenses.

Artur Mkhitaryan, the Deputy Director of the Kashatagh Regional Administration, says that resettlement remains a priority and that the government is paying special attention to war refugees with nowhere else to go.

Mr. Mkhitaryan said that 150 families, some 500 individuals, had resettled in Kashatagh during the first 6 months of 2011.

When I asked him if the Artsakh government had any resettlement target number, Mkhitaryan said no but that the region could sustain many more who wished to relocate.

“We would like to see the region develop and get stronger. We have come to realize that might makes right, in any cases. This just doesn’t mean having a strong army but a developing economy. We already have the former and possess the prerequisites for the latter.”

When I asked about possible territorial concessions, Mkhitaryan gave the official Stepanakert response – These aren’t liberated lands but lands that have been incorporated into the Artsakh Republic via the constitution.

“We hear such talk about giving back lands from Yerevan now and then. No one thinks anything like that here. I find it hard to believe that any official, with the stroke of a pen, will cede lands liberated at such a high cost.”