Yerevan: Baku`s manipulation of refugee issues and shameful practice  of turning them into an instrument of political pressure must be  condemned

ArmInfo.Today, the international community honours the World Refugee Day, while still facing forced deportation. This year, the World Refugee Day is marked  with new challenges for Armenia and the Armenian people. This is  stated in the statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry in  connection with the World Refugee Day.

<The war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh in September 2020  led to massive forced displacements.

About 90,000 people were displaced from their homes and fled to  Armenia, 88% of whom were women and children. These people had to  leave their homes and property acquired through generations to escape  mass atrocities.  Significant part of the displaced people,  particularly from Shushi and the Hadrut region, today are unable to  return to their homes as those territories are now under the  Azerbaijani control.

Many of those people are displaced twice: they were forcibly  displaced in the 1990s from the settlements that had fallen under the  control of the Azerbaijani forces in the result of the aggression  against the people of Artsakh and were subjected to ethnic cleansing.   Particularly, it implies to the Armenians displaced from the  settlements in the northern part of Shahumyan and Martakert regions,  most of whom later settled in the territories under the control of  the Republic of Artsakh.

During the recent aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh  in September-November 2020, these people became refugees twice, while  still facing the consequences of the humanitarian crisis.

The provision 7 of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020,  which states: "internally displaced persons and refugees shall return  to Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas under the control of the  Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees" is not being  implemented. The rights of the Armenians of Artsakh have not yet been  restored, among which first of all are the insurance of their safe  return to the places of their residence and the creation of  appropriate conditions, including through the de-occupation of the  territories of the Republic of Artsakh currently under the  Azerbaijani control. 

By politicizing the outreach of humanitarian assistance to the  affected population, Azerbaijan has been impeding the access of  international organizations, particularly international humanitarian  organizations, to Artsakh. As a result, an unprecedented humanitarian  situation has unfolded, wherein more than seven months after the end  of hostilities, the internally displaced persons in Artsakh are  deprived of comprehensive international humanitarian protection.

Armenia has repeatedly called the attention of the international  community to the vulnerability of the population living in the  conflict areas, urging them to ensure their protection on the basis  of international law, first and foremost the principle of universal  human rights.

The manipulation of refugee issues, the shameful practice of turning  them into an instrument of political pressure, must be condemned.

The implementation of humanitarian projects, the provision of urgent  humanitarian assistance to the population in crisis situations must  be carried out regardless of any circumstances, including the status  of the territory,> the  statement of the RA MFA noted.