Along the Lachin corridor, a mountain road linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, thousands of ethnic Armenians are scrambling to cross the border, fleeing Azerbaijan’s military takeover of the disputed territory at the heart of a three-decades-old conflict. FRANCE 24’s team visited a border checkpoint and followed refugees to a temporary shelter in Armenia’s Goris.
At the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, cars and trucks arrive one by one, packed with displaced families fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh, like the majority of the enclave’s population.
More than 13,350 people have already crossed the border, Armenian officials said early on Tuesday, with thousands more expected over the coming days.
“We don’t just await our families; we await the whole of Nagorno-Karabakh,” says one man waiting for his relatives at a border checkpoint.
“How can we go back? Our Karabakh will no longer exist. There is no help from any country, no country speaks for us,” adds Grigor, one of many people anxiously waiting for loved ones.
Exhausted from their journey, the refugees register with the Red Cross inside tents, where they are given food and drink, before heading for towns across the region.
Read moreNagorno-Karabakh conflict: How Azerbaijan forced Armenia to back down
Some 25 kilometres from the border, the mountain town of Goris has welcomed thousands of refugees, using the local theatre as a temporary shelter.
But Goris is only a transit point for refugees. Many are lost, not knowing where to go next, still in shock and grieving over what they have left behind.
“We took our children and left our homes to come here, to find refuge,” says Rodmila, fighting back tears. “Our nation has been sold, by a government that does not know what it is doing.”
The Armenian government says it is prepared to take in 40,000 displaced families and charities are working round the clock to help meet this target.
“We feel overwhelmed, the situation is difficult,” says charity worker Diana. “A lot of refugees are coming and I don’t think our country is ready for it.”
Click on the player above to watch the full report by Liza Kaminov, Taline Oundjian and Mohammed Shaban.
