Emergency aid efforts for tens of thousands of refugees who have fled to Armenia from the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in Azerbaijan are gathering speed as the exodus from the disputed region shows few signs of letting up. Since Azerbaijan launched an attack on Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19, some 100,000 refugees have arrived in Armenia, mainly in the country’s southern Syunik region.
The European Union reported Saturday that the number of displaced persons reaching Armenia via the Lachin corridor was estimated at around 100,000. According to the European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), more than 70 percent of the presumed 120,000 inhabitants have left the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Some 70,000 people have been registered upon crossing the border into Armenia. The Armenian Government offers accommodation to all forcibly displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh, arriving in the country. ECHO said Saturday that the situation remained unstable, although the flow of refugees was significantly decreasing. On Friday, the numbers were still increasing.
The number of people arriving at the border had surged dramatically in recent days, leading to extended queues at border crossings. Among them are elderly people and many children. Women, children, and men arriving at the border are often in a state of exhaustion and need immediate emergency aid, including hot meals and other food assistance.
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), registrations are well managed by the Armenian Government despite huge lines at the registration centers.
“There are huge crowds at the registration centers,” said Kavita Belani, UNHCR representative in Armenia, speaking in the capital, Yerevan, Friday. “There is congestion simply because the sheer numbers are so high.”
Armenian authorities had established registration centers in various regions, schools in the town of Goris had been turned into shelters, and UNHCR supported the authorities with technical equipment and other needed material, she said.
Belani said the government, United Nations and international and nongovernmental agencies were setting up tents, providing mattresses, blankets, hot meals and other essential items to the growing community. One of the most urgent needs was for psycho-social support as people were arriving exhausted, hungry, frightened and not knowing what to expect.
“When they come, they are full of anxiety. … They want answers as to what is going to happen next,” she said.
“They have questions about compensation, about the houses they have left behind, including whether they will be able to return to their houses, at least to pick up their goods, because many arrive with very little luggage.”
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has activated contingency plans to protect and provide for vulnerable communities affected by the escalating hostilities. The IFRC launched an emergency appeal Friday for nearly $22 million to provide immediate relief and long-term support to tens of thousands of people who have recently crossed into Armenia via the Lachin corridor.
“As we confront the growing humanitarian needs, we must also look ahead,” said Birgitte Bischoff Ebbesen, regional director of IFRC Europe. “They will need further support as they navigate the many questions of settling somewhere new.”
Her colleague, Hicham Diab, IFRC operations manager in Armenia, is on the ground in Yerevan and is witness to the dire situation facing the new arrivals that Diab says “often involves families arriving with children so weak that they have fainted in their parents’ arms.”
“It feels like the people affected reached the finish line of a marathon and crashed on the spot, which I have never seen before,” said Diab.
Diab noted that more than 100 staff and volunteers have been mobilized and positioned at the registration points to help the refugees as they arrive. He said that the conflict has worsened existing vulnerabilities and that the affected regions face severe challenges.
Essential goods and services are scarce, and hospitals are stretched.
“There is a massive need for mental health and psychosocial support. … As the weather is getting colder, shelter is becoming the most critical need for vulnerable families,” he said.
UNICEF reported Friday that children account for about 30 percent of the arrivals and that many have been separated from their families while making their escape.
“We are working to provide psychosocial support and working with the ministries and local authorities to ensure that family tracing is done immediately and that families can reunite,” said Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF regional director for Europe and Central Asia.
She added that UNICEF was working with Armenia’s Ministry of Education to set up child-friendly spaces in the town of Goris and was providing educational supplies for the arriving children.
Carlos Morazzani, operations manager at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said his agency was working to reunite separated families in the region. He said that was especially important now because “when mass movements of people take place, people get separated, leading to real emotional distress.”
However, given the critical developments following the recent conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, he said, the priority for the ICRC was on life-saving activities in the region, “including the transfer of wounded to hospitals into Armenia for treatment and bringing in medical supplies.”
“Over the past week, we have transferred around 130 people for medical care,” said Morazzani. “Another important element of our work right now is working to ensure the dignified management of the dead.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Saturday it was ramping up its efforts to assist those people who have recently arrived at the Armenian border.
WFP has constructed facilities at Goris, near the border in the southeastern province of Syunik, to serve hot meals to people entering Armenia. More than 2,000 hot meals were distributed to people crossing the border on Thursday. WFP plans to scale up to provide 21,000 meals in the next two weeks.
The UN agency is also providing food parcels containing protein-rich food items, grains and cooking oil for 30,000 people. In addition, WFP is ready to provide food cards to support more than 6,000 individuals and, working with partners and donors, to scale up further according to needs.
"We are deeply concerned about the impact on the lives and livelihoods of civilians. As the situation evolves, it is important that affected people receive timely and continued humanitarian support," said Nanna Skau, WFP Representative and Country Director in Armenia.
Following a military operation by Azerbaijan to take full control of the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, large-scale population movements into Armenia began on September 24 when thousands of people arrived in Armenia seeking shelter.
Before the exodus, humanitarian conditions deteriorated in Nagorno-Karabakh, resulting from a blockage of food, medicine, and other goods essential to its population. For nine months, Azerbaijan blocked the Lachin Corridor – shutting down a vital lifeline that connected the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh with supplies which was creating dire shortages.
Nagorno-Karabakh is entirely within Azerbaijan but had been under ethnic Armenian control since 1994. During a war in 2020, Azerbaijan took back control of parts of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The United Nations have called on all sides to protect civilians and allow for their safe passage, in line with international humanitarian law. The UN has also urged parties to refrain from actions that would cause further displacement of civilians, and to ensure their safety, security and their human rights.
On Wednesday, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, reiterated her strong concern over the ongoing situation in the South Caucasus region. She said the images of people leaving due to fear of identity-based violence are very alarming, indeed.
Nderitu called on all efforts to be made to ensure the protection and human rights of the ethnic Armenian population who remain in the area and for those who have left. She stressed that protection and equal rights of minorities is a cornerstone of international human rights law and must be ensured.
Some information for this report provided by VOA.