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Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh continue to cross into Armenia by the thousands, with more than half the population of the enclave evacuated since Monday. New arrivals say the roads are packed 100 kilometers behind them. VOA’s Heather Murdock reports from Goris, Armenia, on the road leading from Nagorno-Karabakh.
Content TypePackage
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/ScriptNAGORNO KARABAKH REFUGEES ARMENIA
HEAD: Nagorno-Karabakh Exodus Surpasses 65,000
SUBHEAD: More than half of the enclave’s population has emptied into Armenia, far exceeding the number that Armenian authorities had prepared to host
PUBLISHED AT: 9/28/2023 at 5:10 p.m.
BYLINE: Heather Murdock
DATELINE: Goris, Armenia
VIDEOGRAPHER: Heather Murdock
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA ORIGINAL
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x RADIO _x
TRT: 2:15
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: TV/R
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO)) [[Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh continue to cross into Armenia by the thousands, with more than half the population of the enclave evacuated since Monday. New arrivals say the roads are packed 100 kilometers behind them. VOA’s Heather Murdock reports from Goris, Armenia, on the road leading from Nagorno-Karabakh.]]
((NARRATOR:))
In the city center of Goris, Armenia, refugees arriving from the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave receive humanitarian aid, like meals or blankets.
Since Monday, more than half the population of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh have fled to Armenia. They are already far more than the Armenian government has said they were prepared to host.
Families say the newest violence in their region has been far more devastating than battles three years ago. Hundreds died in this month’s battles and families who stayed for the 2020 war are fleeing for their lives.
((Mariam Petrosyan, Nagorno-Karabakh Refugee)) ((Female in Armenian))
“We could see the shelling and smoke, that’s how close it was. Before, in 2020 they were shooting from the borders. This time the sounds were so close we were terrified.”
((NARRATOR:))
In mid-September, after decades of off-and on wars, Azerbaijan swiftly gained control of the entirety of Nagorno-Karabakh, a self-declared republic that lies well within Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized borders.
For nine months prior to their victory, the road from the region to Armenia was closed. Residents who fled say within months, shops emptied, and people began to go hungry.
[[RADIO VERSION: One of those fleeing, Mariam Petrosyan, tells VOA she and others stood in lines for three or four days and sometimes would not even get 200 grams of bread. She says the bread they would get was inedible, but they had to eat it if they did not want to starve.]]
((Mariam Petrosyan, Nagorno-Karabakh Refugee)) ((Female in Armenian))
“We stood in the lines for three or four days and sometimes wouldn’t even get 200 grams of bread. The bread we did get was inedible, but we had to eat it to not starve. And then that wasn’t available.”
((NARRATOR:))
She says her parents stayed behind to bury her cousin who was killed in battle but are on the road now to Armenia.
Here in the border area, aid workers offer food, water and some services as families enter Armenia.
But many families say the facilities available for refugees are full, and the patchwork of aid groups does not appear to be prepared to host the tens of thousands more people expected to arrive in the next few days.
((NARRATOR:))
At the refugee center, some families say temporary shelters are already full, and they are not sure where they will sleep.
((Heather Murdock, VOA News, Goris, Armenia))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Goris, Armenia
Embargo DateSeptember 28, 2023 18:20 EDT
Byline
Heather Murdock, VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
