XUNICEF News and Views

Oil derricks in the Baku oil field in Azerbaijan in 1912.  ETH-Bibliothek Zürich Interesting article. Paula Claycomb

Trucks arrive in Armenia filled with refugees As the not so skilled orator and famous baseball player, Yogi Berra, once said, "It's "déja-vu all over again." For me this week, 'déja vu' is not a good feeling, as the 'déja' is Bosnia and former Yugoslavia where I worked as Special Representative through most of the 1990's. July 1995, Bosnia Much of the Bosnian war was fought over ethnic enclaves - a town or group of Muslim villages villages in Serb (i.e. Orthodox) controlled areas, Serbian villages in Croatian (i.e. Catholic) territory, Croatians in Muslim areas, etc., etc. Countless tragedies played out as forces of one side or the other would first blockade, shell and finally attempt to overrun enclaves inhabited by people who no longer 'belonged' in the new nation their enemies wanted to create. Starvation was a key element of the war. As one Bosnian Serb soldier put it, "...how do you get someone to surrender in a war like this? Yo...

Azerbaijan's president has declared that his country's sovereignty has been restored over Nagorno-Karabakh after a 24-hour military offensive against ethnic-Armenian forces. Ilham Aliyev praised the heroism of Azerbaijan's army hours after Karabakh forces agreed to surrender.  President Aliyev said Azerbaijanis had nothing against the population, only their "criminal junta". Some 120,000 ethnic Armenians live in the South Caucasus enclave, recognised internationally as part of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan now intends to bring the breakaway region under full control. Its military launched an "anti-terror" operation on Tuesday, demanding that Karabakh's forces raise a white flag and dissolve their "illegal regime". With no means of support from neighbouring Armenia, and after an effective nine-month blockade, the ethnic Armenians soon gave in. Armenian officials reported that at least 32 people were killed, including seven civilians, and another 20...

"After more than eight months of an ever-tightening blockade, the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh has turned catastrophic." This coverage in the international mainstream media adds much weight and credibility for sensitising the global community for response. Besides New York Times and Washington Post, The Telegraph, The Guardian, Reuters, BBC and Al Jazeera, have all covered the crisis with a show of concern. The Economist has now added to it. As a man on the ground here in Armenia I must reiterate that infants, women and children remain the most vulnerable under the present political impasse that they are not responsible for. Moreover, as an xUNICEF staff member, I must state that UNICEF holds an international mandate to ensure neutrality of children in a humanitarian disaster precipitated by contending political claims. It's time to exercise that mandate. To add to what I have stated, given the strong verdict of the International Court of Justice in support...

We usually associate genocide with mass slaughter, terror, and rape - as in Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur and so forth.   Nicholas Kristof calls attention to a slow-moving, but equally effective form of obliterating a people.  He speaks of the Azerbaijani blockade of Ngorno-Karabakh's only access route, and the resulting slow starvation of the Armenian population living there.    The Security Council recently held a special session devoted to the blockade.  The US also recently hosted a meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan.  Neither meeting seems to have led to any progress. The regional powers, Russia and Turkey have their attention on other issues, including Ukraine, the Black Sea, and Georgia.  Among the humanitarian agencies, only ICRC seems to be active in calling for action to open a humanitarian corridor. UNICEF and other agencies have remained remarkably quiet.  As Russia's preoccupation grows with its war in Ukraine, w...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Armenia and Azerbaijan have made “further progress” toward a peace agreement in three days of U.S.-hosted talks near Washington between the two former Soviet republics that have repeatedly clashed over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, he also noted that there was much work ahead for the two parties before a final agreement. A key issue is the re-opening of a road which passes through the Lachin Corridor in Azerbaijan and has been blocked since December 2022. In a statement on July 25th ICRC has noted the urgency of reopening this aid corridor for humanitarian supplies. "Despite persistent efforts, the ICRC is not currently able to bring humanitarian assistance to the civilian population through the Lachin corridor or through any other routes, including Aghdam. Under international humanitarian law, sides must allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need. This includes...