Armenia prepared on Monday to welcome more ethnic Armenians fleeing the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, neighboring Azerbaijan.
The Armenian government said on Sunday that more than 1,000 refugees had arrived from the enclave after Azerbaijan launched a military operation to take control of the disputed region, which is home to mostly ethnic Armenians.
Media in Russia, Armenia’s long-time ally, reported early Monday that nearly 3,000 people had traveled from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia as of 5 a.m. local time (01:00 GMT).
After decades of conflict, local Armenians fear expulsion or revenge from authoritarian Azerbaijan.
“Families who are homeless after the recent military operation and want to leave the republic will be brought to Armenia,” the Armenian leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh’s capital Stepanakert said on Sunday.
Armenians feel “abandoned” by the West: DW reports
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Last Tuesday, Azerbaijan launched a military operation to conquer Nagorno-Karabakh. Within a day, the Armenian fighters in the region surrendered.
According to Armenian sources, more than 200 people died and more than 400 others were injured during the brief fighting. Azerbaijan promised to allow the wounded to leave the region and travel to Armenia.
What is the situation on site?
When locals in Nagorno-Karabakh’s capital Stepanakert, also known as Khankedi in Azerbaijan, heard the first shots last week, they rushed to their basements to seek shelter.
The city descended into chaos, sowing panic and fear and leaving many people displaced and separated from their families.
“Those two days were unbearable. We could hear explosions right next to our house. The drones flew over our roofs. Our house shook,” remembers Nina, a local resident. In a voice message to DW reporter Maria Katamadze, she said the situation in the city was “catastrophic.”
“We have almost no electricity, no connection to the outside world. We don’t even know what’s happening to our relatives and friends.”
Meanwhile, the first refugees arrived in Armenia on Sunday morning in their private cars and buses, escorted by Russian peacekeepers. When they arrived, they were welcomed by the Red Cross and received initial medical and psychological help.
Some ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh fled to Armenia by carImage: Maria Katamadze/DW
Later that evening, the refugees arrived by bus at a hotel in nearby Goris.
“I cried the whole time. We thought they were going to kill us. The rockets flew over our heads. We are here and that is the miracle,” Sakuri, a mother of three, told DW.
“It was so loud. Grad rockets, helicopters and drones. I don’t feel anything anymore. It is so bad. No, it’s terrible,” said Angelina, a student.
Many stayed overnight in a hotel in GorisImage: Maria Katamadze/DW
Armenia urges the United Nations to monitor human rights in Nagorno-Karabakh
Armenia called on Saturday for the deployment of a UN mission to Nagorno-Karabakh to monitor human rights and ensure the security of ethnic Armenians in the region.
“The international community should make every effort to facilitate the immediate deployment of a UN interagency mission to Nagorno-Karabakh with the aim of monitoring and assessing the human rights, humanitarian and security situation on the ground,” said Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in a speech to UN delegates in New York.
Azerbaijan has said it is committed to protecting the rights of ethnic Armenians in the territory.
Protests broke out in the Armenian capital Yerevan on Monday. Protesters claimed the government had failed to protect ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“We feel terrible. The government… it doesn’t think about our fellow citizens who are dying either from hunger or from shootings,” said Anait, one of the anti-government protesters in Armenia’s capital Yerevan.
Armenia calls for UN mission in Nagorno-Karabakh
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Edited by: Farah Bahgat