They arrive in the Armenian capital aboard minibuses, full of entire families. 76,000 inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh have fled since the start of Azerbaijan’s offensive, according to the latest figures from the Armenian government.
In the southern suburbs of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, exhausted, haggard refugees have only a few pieces of luggage: a small suitcase, a large bag, blankets. They are young children, old women, a few men, with closed faces, features drawn by fatigue and a fixed gaze that betrays their despair. They arrived in minibuses full of entire families. A week after Azerbaijan’s offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave populated by Armenians, the populations continue to flee.
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Nearly 89,000 refugees out of the 120,000 official inhabitants – probably fewer in reality – had crossed the border on Friday September 29 to escape the control of Azerbaijan. The enclave empties, a “ethnic cleansing” according to Yerevan. Azerbaijan denies this and invites the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to stay at home. HAS according to Baku, they could become Azerbaijani citizens, with rights equal to those of Azeris.
Around 250 euros promised to each refugee
But in fact, the martial, ultranationalist, willingly humiliating tone of Baku and the media close to the power of President Ilham Aliyev, leaves little doubt about the real attitude of the winner. The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh cannot bring themselves to live under the yoke of the enemy, fearing abuses.
Can Armenia cope with such an influx of refugees? A week ago, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian assured that Armenia was capable of welcoming 40,000 refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, approximately twice as many have already crossed the border. Most are concentrated in the town of Goris, in the south of the country and only a small minority of them are housed by theEstate or the Red Cross.
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In an Armenia where rents have exploded in recent years with the arrival of Russian deserters, Nikol Pashinian promised Thursday that every “brothers and sisters from Nagorno-Karabakh forcibly displaced” would receive 100,000 drams, or around 250 euros, a pittance for those who have often left everything behind.
International aid is emerging. Washington has promised around 11 million euros. France is planning 7 million euros for NGOs and will send medical equipment. The disappearance of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave is turning into a humanitarian crisis in Armenia.