Armenian Exodus

Written by Ash Breedlove | October 1, 2023

---

As of September 30th, an estimated 100,000 people have left Nagorno-Karabakh and entered into Armenia. This large exodus comes in the wake of Azerbaijan’s military offensive in the contested region. Local forces in Karabakh have since disarmed and disbanded. Ethnic Armenians in the region, fearing persecution from the Azeri government, fled almost immediately after violent conflict erupted on September 20th. The Armenian separatist government in the region will cease to exist after January 1st, 2024.

The Azeri military’s lighting attack came the day before Armenia’s Independence Day and occurred at the same time as a United Nations summit was held in New York. While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded for more aid from the international community, a new crisis in Eastern Europe erupted. The following week USAID Administrator Samantha Power visited Armenia to assess the situation coming out of Nagorno-Karabakh. Power announced USAID would be deploying a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to the South Caucasus region to coordinate the United States’ humanitarian response. The U.S. has pledged a measly $11.5 million in humanitarian assistance to address the crisis. While many nations are tied up in assisting Ukraine, they are neglecting the issues arising out of Armenia and Azerbaijan.