Nearly half of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population has fled the Caucasus region. There are now 50,243 who have taken refuge in Armenia, according to new figures communicated Wednesday by Yerevan, following Azerbaijan’s military operation which left more than 400 dead on both camps. Azerbaijan opened the only road linking Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia on Sunday, four days after the capitulation of the separatists and a ceasefire agreement which places the region of around 120,000 inhabitants, mainly populated by Armenians.
The authorities have pledged to allow rebels who surrender their weapons to leave. However, they arrested businessman Ruben Vardanyan, who led the enclave’s separatist government from November 2022 to February 2023, on Wednesday as he tried to reach Armenia.
Chaos at the border
On the other side of the border, chaos reigns. First stop for most, the town of Goris is unrecognizable. Hundreds of cars clutter its streets in the greatest chaos, under the eyes of police officers powerless to direct them. Helicopters fly over the area.
Many hungry refugees spent the night in their vehicles and emerged with eyes red with fatigue, many saying they had no place to sleep or anywhere to go in Armenia. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said he was ready to welcome 40,000 refugees into the country of 2.9 million inhabitants. But the government has so far only been able to house 2,850 people, which suggests a humanitarian crisis.
Civil society is getting organized
Civil society is organizing itself without waiting for the State. The small town of Goris is not its first exodus: it has already welcomed refugees during the previous Nagorno Karabakh wars between the two former Soviet republics, Armenia with a Christian majority, and Azerbaijan with a Muslim majority.
After the call to protect civilians launched Tuesday by the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken, his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock urged Baku to allow international observers to enter the enclave. “The children, women and men of Nagorno Karabakh must be able to remain in their homes and in their homeland in peace and dignity,” she insisted.