GORIS, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. 42,500 forcibly displaced persons have crossed into Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh as of Monday morning amid the ongoing mass exodus following the September 19-20 Azerbaijani attack which ended after Nagorno-Karabakh authorities agreed to Azerbaijan’s terms in a Russian-brokered ceasefire deal.

The Armenians leaving Nagorno-Karabakh are crossing into Armenia through the Stepanakert-Goris road, the Lachin Corridor.

In Goris, they are met by Armenian government crisis response groups, ICRC representatives and multiple volunteers at a Humanitarian Center, who spare no efforts to meet the needs of the forcibly displaced persons. The arriving forcibly displaced Armenians are given essential items, such as blankets, medication, food and whatever else they need. Medical assistance is provided to everyone in need.

Locals in Goris have joined the emergency response teams, with many residents offering hot meals to the vulnerable children, pregnant women and persons with disabilities.

Yelena Mirzoyan, a resident of Stepanakert and a mother of three, was widowed in 2020 when her husband was killed in action during the 44-Day-War after voluntarily joining the military. Mirzoyan is a doctor and was at work in a dermatology clinic when Azerbaijan launched the bombardment of Stepanakert on September 19, 2023. She hurried home in horror to try and find her three children as mobile and internet connection was already disrupted.

“Fortunately, my children had made it back home, and we went down to the bomb shelter, where there was a chaotic situation. Everyone was in terror, crying, fearing the worst amid the bombing. We were trying to comfort the children,” Mirzoyan told ARMENPRESS correspondent Manvel Margaryan in Goris.  The nine-month blockade had already made life nearly impossible in Nagorno-Karabakh. “Residents from the villages near Stepanakert were also being displaced. They had nowhere to live and were out in the cold,” Mirzoyan said.

The Armenian government is providing accommodation to everyone in need. Mirzoyan has been offered several options for a new home, but she still hasn’t decided.

Among those forcibly displaced is a former servicemember of the Defense Army of Nagorno-Karabakh. The ex-servicemen, who did not wish to be identified and only gave his initials K.K., served for 11 years in the Defense Army. He was on-duty near Shosh and Matchkalashen when the Azeri aggression began. His wife and newborn baby were in Martuni without power and gas.

“We didn’t even have the opportunity to heat water to bath our baby. Health workers were also being evacuated from the town, pharmacies didn’t even have painkillers or fever medicine. It was nearly impossible to find anything to eat. We didn’t have even the most basic living conditions,” he said. He added that he still hasn’t decided whether to take the accommodation assistance from the government or to go and live with his relatives in Masis.

Ishkhan Danielyan, a historian and sociologist from the village of Mets Shen, also fled NK.

Danielyan and other residents of his village barely survived the bombardments as they were evacuated in the midst of the shelling. The evacuation was carried out by the village administration, with the help of Russian peacekeepers. Danielyan, along with a group of 40 people, including his relatives, crossed into Armenia on a cargo truck. They only took the most essential items and documents with them. Mets Shen had a population of just over 250 before the Azeri attack. Now, there’s no one left, everyone was forcibly displaced as a result of the Azeri attack.

“I am a member of the Russian Union of Sociologists and the International Association of Sociologists, I have comprehensively briefed my colleagues on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. They can’t even imagine what kinds of atrocities are taking place. Going back [to NK] doesn’t even cross our minds because Azerbaijan seeks to subjugate Artsakh once and for all, but we simply can’t live under Azeri control. I hope that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will use their potential here, for the benefit of Armenia’s development, because Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are able to effectively integrate into the society of Armenia,” Danielyan said.

Gagik Karapetyan, a resident of the village of Haterk, said that the entire population of his village – over 1,700 people – have been forcibly displaced.