Rep. Adam Schiff speaks at a protest in Washington demanding the immediate lifting of Azerbaijan's blockade of Artsakh in February
WASHINGTON—Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) sent a letter to House and Senate leadership on Friday urging them to include robust humanitarian aid for Armenia in President Biden’s National Security Supplemental funding request. This comes as Armenia is supporting more than 100,000 refugees displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) by the unprovoked military attacks by Azerbaijan in September 2023, and up to 150,000 refugees in total since the 44 Day Conflict in 2020.
“After systematically starving the people of Artsakh with a 10-months-long blockade of the Lachin Corridor, the only road that connected Artsakh with the outside world, Azerbaijani forces launched a large-scale attack on Artsakh on September 19, resulting in at least 200 dead and 400 wounded, including children, women, and the elderly, and prompting nearly the entire population to flee for their lives. By the time a UN mission was sent—far too late—to review conditions on the ground, the team reported hearing that only ‘between 50 and 1,000 ethnic Armenians remain in the Karabakh region.’ The majority of those refugees are now in Armenia, where they arrived in desperate condition and in need of aid,” Schiff wrote in the letter.
“We understand the Armenian government has identified a need to allocate more than $1.5 billion toward the long-term housing needs of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, but significant and sustained support from the international community and United States will be needed to address the short- and medium-term needs of refugees. Alleviating human suffering and meeting the urgent humanitarian needs of the refugees now in Armenia must be a top priority. The national security supplemental must include a robust level of U.S. humanitarian assistance for Armenia sufficient to address the scope of the challenge and demonstrate the U.S. commitment to Armenia’s flourishing democracy, as the Armenian people continue to face unprovoked military aggression and threats of genocide at the hands of its autocratic neighbor,” Schiff added.
“While the security and human rights situation in the South Caucasus remains complex, the United States must also continue to push for accountability for crimes committed in the context of Azerbaijan’s unprovoked military attacks against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh since September 2020, take steps to deter future Azerbaijani aggression, and reaffirm support for Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Alleviating human suffering and meeting the urgent humanitarian needs of the refugees now in Armenia must be a top priority. The national security supplemental must include a robust level of U.S. humanitarian assistance for Armenia sufficient to address the scope of the challenge and demonstrate the U.S. commitment to Armenia’s flourishing democracy, as the Armenian people continue to face unprovoked military aggression and threats of genocide at the hands of its autocratic neighbor,” Schiff also said in the letter.