NEW YORK: The United Nations voicing deep concern about the escalating humanitarian crisis in the South Caucasus has urged to respect the Armenians’ right of return to Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Due to resent escalation between Azerbaijan and Armenia more than 100,600 ethnic-Armenian refugees, including 30,000 children, reached into Armenia from the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the UN’s special adviser on the prevention of genocide stressed the need for urgent measures to protect the rights and safety of the displaced population.
Efforts stressed to protect Armenians’ rights
She said all efforts must be made to ensure the protection and human rights of the ethnic-Armenian population who live in the area.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting to take the control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region for decades. The region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but came under the rule of ethnic Armenian separatists in the mid-1990s.
The Armenian forces also took control of some part of the area but Azerbaijan retook the control of most of it during a six-week war with Armenia in 2020.
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Nderitu in her views said the rights of all internally displaced people and those in refugee-like situations must be fully protected.
She endorsed the assurances given by authorities in Azerbaijan that the ethnic-Armenian population and their rights would be protected. Azerbaijan as a goodwill gesture granted initial access to representatives of the UN to evaluate the humanitarian situation in the region.
Nderitu believed such positive steps need should be continued. The UN official called for increased dialogue to help prevent any further military escalation in the region.
