August 19 is World Humanitarian Day, established by a resolution UN General Assembly in 2008. This day is yet another call to highlight the urgent need to protect the violated rights of the forcibly displaced population of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Although the purpose of World Humanitarian Day is to stress the importance of providing humanitarian aid in situations of armed conflict and disasters, as well as protecting human rights and dignity, it must be noted that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh—due to Azerbaijan’s genocidal actions and absence of a strong response from the international system—for a prolonged period on discriminatory grounds were deprived of the guarantees of humanitarian law and the opportunity to receive humanitarian aid.
During the 44-day war of 2020, the blockade of the Lachin Corridor lasting nearly ten months, and the forced displacement of 2023, the population was denied the fundamental rights stipulated by international humanitarian law.
In 2022, Azerbaijan—on unfounded grounds—closed the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and the outside world, leaving about 120,000 Artsakh Armenians in a complete blockade. This not only suspended the function of vital infrastructures but also deprived the population of humanitarian aid, leaving them to face shortages of food, hygiene, medical care, and essential medicine, malnutrition, and widespread violations of their rights.
Furthermore, Azerbaijan blocked the entry of humanitarian aid and fuel into Artsakh by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)—the very body with the primary mandate to provide humanitarian aid. They also prevented the transfer of patients in need of urgent medical care from Artsakh to Armenia, thereby disrupting the supply of vital medicines and other necessary items. Following the forced displacement of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, since June 2025 Azerbaijan has also begun to restrict and shut down the activities of the ICRC, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and other humanitarian organizations in the region.
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The Human Rights Union of Nagorno-Karabakh Refugees urges states to:
- Provide an appropriate response to the crimes committed by Azerbaijan against the civilian population of Nagorno-Karabakh during and as a result of armed conflicts, in line with the principles of The Hague and Geneva Conventions,
- Monitor the dire situation of Armenians illegally held in Azerbaijan, who are persecuted for political reasons, subjected to unfair treatment and harassment, with particular attention to identifying the causes of their visible injuries.
- We call on international organizations to uphold international humanitarian law and to respect the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to be equal with other peoples, create, live, and be free from deprivation, as well as give a strong assessment of Azerbaijan’s ongoing manifestations of racial hatred.
Human Rights Union of Nagorno-Karabakh Refugees
