No reports of mistreatment of Armenians leaving Karabakh — UN

The UN refugee agency [UNHCR] has said it has not received reports of maltreatment of Armenians leaving Karabakh, noting nearly 89,000 have left in one week.

Kavita Belani, UNHCR representative in Armenia, told a news conference on Friday that the refugee agency is deeply concerned by the rapidly evolving emergency in Armenia, with more than 88,700 people arriving 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.

"There are no recorded incidences of mistreatment," she said in response to an Anadolu Agency question that asked if she was aware of reports of maltreatment of those leaving Karabakh.

"The long and tiring journey and the congestion is difficult for people. Nobody shared instances of being harassed."

Humanitarian aid

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 centres, and there are around ten additional humanitarian centres in other regions.

"The authorities are providing temporary accommodation to new arrivals with no relatives in Armenia, including in hotels, social centres and schools. However, with such huge numbers of arrivals in a short time, additional emergency centres are urgently needed," she said.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognised 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.

Last week, Armenia-backed separatists agreed to lay down arms after a lightning Azerbaijani offensive finally place Karabakh under its control.

Azerbaijan intends to allow a group of experts from the United Nations to visit the Karabakh region "in a matter of days", the office of a presidential adviser said early on Friday.

Media will also have a chance to visit Karabakh, it said.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said the rights of Karabakh's Armenians would be fully respected but he has consigned the idea of an independent ethnic Armenian Karabakh to history.