Samantha Power: International Mission Should Be Sent to Nagorno-Karabakh Immediately

KORNIDZOR — The United States will provide $11.5 million in humanitarian assistance to the people of Nagorno Karabakh, USAID Administrator Samantah Power told reporters in Kornidzor, at the entrance to the Lanchin corridor.

She said the nine-month blockade of the corridor by the government of Azerbaijan created excruciating humanitarian conditions for the people living in Nagorno Karabakh.

“Blockages of food, medicine and supplies created dire shortages inside Nagorno Karabak. Humanitarian organizations, independent eyes and ears were shut out,” she said, adding that the military attacks o last week have made the dire situation even worse.

She said they have received disturbing accounts of violence against civilians (committed by Azerbaijani soldiers) from eyewitnesses. At the same time, given the chaotic situation that has developed so far and the trauma that people have experienced, it is necessary to listen to people’s stories to understand the real situation.

Samantha Power stressed that it is absolutely critical that humanitarian organization be granted full and unimpeded access to the Lachin corridor and the towns in Nagorno Karabakh.

“President Biden sent me here to meet with Government officious, NGOs and civilians, families fleeing Nagorno Karabakh. Many of them fled their village sunder shelling, and many that have arrives are suffering from severe malnutrition, according to doctors,” she said.

“It is absolutely critical that international monitors and humanitarian organizations get access to the people in Nagorno Karabakh who still have dire needs,” the USAID Administrator stressed.

“We know that there are injured civilians in Nagorno Karabakh that need to be evacuated and it is absolutely essential that evacuation be facilitated by the government of Azerbaijan,” she noted.

Power announced that given the scale of the needs that the people in Nagorno Karabakh are facing, the US will provide $11.5 million in humanitarian assistance.

“This assistance will be used to provide everything from food to social-psychological support, she said. It will also be used to contribute to efforts to reunite families,” she said.