Nagorno Karabach, thousands of Armenians are experiencing a serious humanitarian crisis due to the blockage of the Lachin corridor

ROME – Since December 12, Azerbaijani protesters have been blocking the Lachin corridor, a 32-kilometer mountainous road linking Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed region between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in the southern Caucasus. According to the Baku government, these are environmentalists who are asking for authorization to inspect the numerous Armenian mines, considered illegal, in the area. With the passage blocked, however, the protesters are also preventing the entry of food and medical supplies, causing a serious humanitarian crisis for the more than 120,000 residents in the area.

The history of the conflict. The tiny mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh proclaimed its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. It is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but its population is predominantly Armenian. Considered until a few years ago as a “frozen conflict”, today the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia is increasingly complicated.

The position of the two countries. Baku maintains that Nagorno is an integral part of Azerbaijan and the rights of Armenians living in this area are guaranteed according to the provisions of the Azerbaijani constitution. For Armenia, the blockade of the Lachin corridor constitutes a serious violation of the agreement reached in November 2020 with Russia’s mediation, after a month of bloody fighting.

The war of 2020. With the ceasefire of November 2020 it was established that the Nagorno area should be controlled by two thousand Russian peacekeepers together with the monitoring of Turkey, Azerbaijan’s historical ally. Instead, Baku is required to allow the passage of people and goods in both directions. The 2020 war claimed more than 7,000 lives and resulted in Baku regaining control of much of the region.

The humanitarian crisis. For more than a month, food supplies have not been able to enter Nagorno-Karabakh. The Internet connection is slower and slower and the electricity is in fits and starts, the inhabitants of Stepanakert tell the France24 correspondent. Ruben Vardanyan, head of the government of this small separatist enclave, has set up a crisis unit to deal with the situation. Electricity is cut off for at least four hours a day, most schools have closed and so have many businesses, because they cannot work without power. More than 700 companies have had to suspend their activities and more than 3,400 people have already lost their jobs.

The gas question. Access to gas supplies has become an obstacle course in a region where temperatures drop as much as ten degrees below zero. The pipeline supplying Nagorno is controlled by Baku and authorities in Stepanakert accused Azerbaijan of having cut off supplies on 13 December. Supplies which, however, were restored after three days thanks to international pressure.

The denunciation of the Organizations for the rights. Among international organizations only the Red Cross managed to enter Nagorno-Karabakh to help about forty citizens who were transferred to hospitals in Yerevan in serious condition. In a note written in December Human Rights Watch warned that the prolonged blockade of the Lachin Corridor could cause a disastrous humanitarian crisis. Amnesty International instead he asks for full freedom of movement. L’United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has launched an appeal asking for the corridor to be reopened and so is the Institute for the Prevention of Genocide, which warns of the risk of ethnic cleansing in the region.

The world of politics. The European Parliament adopted a resolution in which it asked Azerbaijan to immediately reopen the corridor and to allow both humanitarian organizations and a fact-finding mission from the United Nations and theOSCE. The other request is that the corridor be controlled by international peacekeepers. EU intervention was urged by Armenia, but it did not go down well with the Azerbaijani government, for which European monitoring on the Armenian side and without Baku’s consent will not only fail to improve security conditions but will further complicate the process of peace.