Dear MP {{mplname}},
I am writing to urgently draw your attention to the horrific plight of the Armenians forced to flee their ancestral homelands of Nagorno Karabakh because of Azerbaijan’s recent attack. This humanitarian catastrophe caused by Azerbaijan, demands immediate and comprehensive intervention from the British government.
On September 19, the Azerbaijani military launched an illegal, lightning offensive against the indigenous Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh, indiscriminately targeting human population centres with rockets, artillery, UAVs and gunfire. The population of 120,000, whose sole aspiration was to live peacefully in the lands they called home for centuries, had already been subjected to a vicious blockade prior to this attack. The Lachin corridor linking Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh had been cut off for 10 months, leaving no access to food, water, power and medicine – the population cruelly left on the brink of starvation.
More than 200 have been killed and 400 wounded, including among them children and women; this figure is undoubtedly larger since Azerbaijan has not allowed access in several of the regions they attacked. The policy and actions of Azerbaijan for the last 10 months evidently demonstrate the pre-planned and well-orchestrated nature of this mass atrocity. Despite these plain intentions, the international community failed to stop this situation unfolding in time, and as such helped empower Azerbaijan to commit ethnic cleansing unhindered. So far there are 97,000 Armenians that have crossed the border to Armenia from Artsakh as they no longer feel safe or trust Azerbaijan. They were all abandoned by the Russian peacekeepers who were not able to secure their safety.
Today, after being terrorised by the Aliyev regime for so long, a regime hell-bent on destroying Armenian culture and heritage, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh have been left with no choice but to permanently flee for their safety: some left with no time to bury their relatives, some fled with nothing but the clothes on their back. Tens of thousands continue to cross into Armenia – causing a mass refugee situation. For months, Genocide Watch, the IAGS, and the former ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, together have repeatedly warned that “the conditions Azerbaijan has imposed on Nagorno-Karabakh amount to genocide”. Sadly, these warnings are now being realised.
This is a desperate situation. Britain cannot tolerate impunity any further and must do everything to help the distraught Armenians. As my representative in the House of Commons, I implore you to request the immediate actions from the UK government:
1- Dispatch a UK delegation to assess the situation on the ground directly.
2- Sending critically necessary humanitarian aid.
3- Sanctioning Azerbaijan for using force illegally to subjugate the civilian population.
4- Set up a hearing to investigate and evaluate cases of war crimes committed by Azerbaijan.
5- Create conditions for the safe and dignified return of the people to their ancestral lands, protecting full rights to self-determinations and personal freedoms.
6- Demand the immediate withdrawal of Azerbaijan forces from Armenia, who are still occupying 170 km2 of their sovereign territory since 2021 – actions that severely undermine the peace negotiations between the two countries.
7- Work towards securing other borders of Armenia against further aggression from Azerbaijan.
8- Release of all POWs, including those still incarcerated since 2020, and call for a political amnesty to prohibit further unwarranted arrests of government officials and military personnel. So far 5 have been abducted.
9- Spearhead an UN international monitoring mechanism in Nagorno Karabakh as this is the most vital solution to mitigate further violence.
