In total, over 100 thousand ethnic Armenians have left the region in recent days. Their care was accompanied by numerous difficulties; According to the IOM, many elderly and children became malnourished and also contracted pneumonia along the way.
The United Nations mission led by the UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan summarized the results of its work in the territory of Karabakh. The organization estimates that more than 100,000 people have fled the area in the past few days and that between 50 and 1,000 ethnic Armenians currently live in the area. The UN press service reported this on October 2.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the organization, said that the delegation visited the city of Khankendi, where the group met with the public and representatives of the local community. They said that there were no more than a thousand ethnic Armenians left in Karabakh; Although there were no signs of violence against civilians, the remainder of the Armenian population left the area in a hurry.
“Our colleagues were astonished by the sudden flight of local people from their homes and the pain this experience must have caused them. Additionally, they have not received any reports from locals or others of violence against civilians after the last ceasefire.” said Dujarric.
Important
In addition, the mission did not detect any damage to civilian infrastructure; There was no damage to hospitals, schools, shops and other civilian facilities, as well as religious sites. At the same time, almost all stores were closed.
At the same time, Al Jazeera television channel journalists also visited Hankendi (Stepanakert). The published images show completely deserted streets, abandoned belongings, baby carriages and scattered furniture. The central square is full of garbage and pets run alone between cars.
UN staff noted that the roads that tens of thousands of refugees have recently passed towards Armenia are almost empty, but the departure of the Armenians brought with it many difficulties. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there were reports of refugees having to travel for hours under extremely difficult conditions; There were cases of malnutrition among the elderly and children, and some contracted various diseases, including pneumonia, along the way.
Let’s remember, on September 19, the Azerbaijani army announced that a “local anti-terrorism operation” had been launched in Karabakh with the aim of restoring constitutional order in the region.
As a result, on September 20, the “officials of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic” surrendered and the parties to the conflict began negotiations, after which a ceasefire was declared and Azerbaijan’s operation ended.
Source: Focus
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