(MENAFN- AzerNews) The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said Friday it has not received
reports of maltreatment of Armenians fleeing Garabagh, noting
nearly 89,000 have fled in one week, Azernews reports.
Kavita Belani, UNHCR representative in Armenia, told a news
conference that the refugee agency is deeply concerned by the
rapidly evolving humanitarian emergency in Armenia, with more than
88,700 refugee arrivals in less than a week.
“UNHCR teams have been on the ground and at the border since day
one when the first groups of refugees arrived exhausted,
frightened, and apprehensive about the future,” said Belani.“They
have been living under blockade for the past nine months. They do
not know what will happen to their fled homes and whether they will
return.”
“There are no recorded incidences of mistreatment,” she said in
response to an Anadolu question that asked if she was aware of
reports of maltreatment of those fleeing Garabagh.“The long and
the tiring journey, and the congestion is difficult for people.
Nobody shared instances of being harassed.”
The UNHCR representative said people are anxious about what will
happen to them now and worry about whether their children can
access education.
“Most arrived with very few belongings and require urgent
emergency assistance, including blankets, bedding materials,
medical and psychosocial support, and shelter in the immediate
term,” said Belani.
She said the Armenian government is registering refugees at
border registration centers, and there are around 10 additional
humanitarian centers in other regions.
“The authorities are providing temporary accommodation to new
arrivals with no relatives in Armenia, including in hotels, social
centers and schools. However, with such huge numbers of arrivals in
a short time, additional emergency centers are urgently needed,”
she said.
Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since
1991 when the Armenian military occupied "Nagorno-Karabakh", a
territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and
seven adjacent regions.
Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages and settlements
from Armenian occupation in the fall of 2020, during 44 days of
fighting. The war ended with a Russia-brokered cease-fire.
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