Alongside the Lachin hall, a mountain highway linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, 1000’s of ethnic Armenians are scrambling to cross the border, fleeing Azerbaijan’s army takeover of the disputed territory on the coronary heart of a three-decades-old battle. FRANCE 24’s crew visited a border checkpoint and adopted refugees to a brief shelter in Armenia’s Goris.
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On the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, vehicles and vans arrive one after the other, full of displaced households fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh, like the vast majority of the enclave’s inhabitants.
Greater than 13,350 folks have already crossed the border, Armenian officers stated early on Tuesday, with 1000’s extra anticipated over the approaching days.
“We don’t simply await our households; we await the entire of Nagorno-Karabakh,” says one man ready for his family at a border checkpoint.
“How can we return? Our Karabakh will not exist. There isn’t a assist from any nation, no nation speaks for us,” provides Grigor, certainly one of many individuals anxiously ready for family members.
Exhausted from their journey, the refugees register with the Pink Cross inside tents, the place they’re given food and drinks, earlier than heading for cities throughout the area.
Learn extraNagorno-Karabakh battle: How Azerbaijan pressured Armenia to again down
Some 25 kilometres from the border, the mountain city of Goris has welcomed 1000’s of refugees, utilizing the native theatre as a brief shelter.
However Goris is barely a transit level for refugees. Many are misplaced, not realizing the place to go subsequent, nonetheless in shock and grieving over what they’ve left behind.
“We took our kids and left our properties to come back right here, to search out refuge,” says Rodmila, preventing again tears. “Our nation has been bought, by a authorities that doesn’t know what it’s doing.”
The Armenian authorities says it’s ready to soak up 40,000 displaced households and charities are working around the clock to assist meet this goal.
“We really feel overwhelmed, the state of affairs is troublesome,” says charity employee Diana. “Plenty of refugees are coming and I don’t assume our nation is prepared for it.”
Click on on the participant above to look at the complete report by Liza Kaminov, Taline Oundjian and Mohammed Shaban.