More than 70% of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh has fled the ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan for neighbouring Armenia, the Armenian government said Friday, as the enclave's separatist government said it will dissolve itself by the end of the year after a three-decade bid for independence.
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00:00 It`s an exodus no one was prepared for. Cars and buses full of refugees are entering Armenia
00:07 at a desperate pace. According to Yerevan, 84,770 people had left Nagorno-Karabakh by
00:14 Friday, more than 70 percent of the population. The U.N. is calling for all efforts to be
00:19 made to ensure the protection of people and their rights. Several agencies are already
00:23 on the ground.
00:24 We`ve heard about issues of hypertension, malnutrition, people in need of first aid,
00:31 elderly, people with chronic diseases in need of care. So, we`ve asked very specifically
00:36 what they need. There are some acute needs here that we`re going to try and tackle and
00:40 bring in additional supplies. But there are also some medium-term to longer-term needs.
00:45 These include ambulatory and ambulance support.
00:49 Thirty percent of the refugees are children, many of them separated from their families.
00:55 Most of the refugees need immediate assistance.
00:57 I didn`t even tell the special agent that I was going to take them, because my wife`s
01:02 husband was sick and I had to take them.
01:04 I was transferred to Stepanakert. I had to leave so much money. I couldn`t afford it.
01:09 I had to pay millions for it. I had to pay for everything. I had to take them to the
01:16 hospital. I had to take them to the hospital.
01:20 Russia deployed some 2,000 peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh in November 2020. Now, the
01:26 Kremlin is saying their presence will be discussed with Azerbaijan after the disarmament of forces
01:30 from the separatist territory.
01:32 [WHOOSH]