More than 80% of ethnic Armenian population has fled Nagorno-Karabakh

More than 100,000 refugees have now arrived in Armenia from neighbouring Nagorno-Karabakhsince Azerbaijan took control of theregion in a lightning-fast offensive,the head of the UNrefugee agency (UNHCR) said lateFriday.

"Many are hungry, exhausted and need immediate assistance," Filippo Grandi said on social media.

"UNHCR and other humanitarian partners are stepping up their support to the Armenian authorities, but international help is very urgently required," Grandisaid.

A United Nations spokesperson on Friday said the UN would besendinga humanitarian team to Nagorno-Karabakh this weekend.Stphane Dujarricsaid it would assess theneeds of those who remain aswell as those who are on the move. It would be the UN's first mission there in close to 30 years.

The CBC's Briar Stewart was in Yerevan, Armenia on Saturday where she spoke to Armenian actress Anais Sardaryan, who'sco-ordinatingthe efforts of about 100 volunteers to collect food and other supplies donated by local residents and businesses.

Sardaryan said it will take a couple ofdays to distribute the aid, which she finds frustrating when she can already hear"all these hungry, crying babies who don't have anything, and there's little we can do for them now."

Armenia has asked the EuropeanUnion for assistance to help it deal with the flood of refugees,the office of Italy's prime minister said onSaturday.

The Armenian government has saidit only has enough resources to resettle about 40,000 refugees.

Nazeli Baghdasaryan, the press secretary to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, said 100,417 people have nowarrived in Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh, which had a population of around 120,000 before Azerbaijan reclaimed the region.

WATCH |Nagorno-Karabakh evacuees paint sombre picture of lives left behind:

Nagorno-Karabakh evacuees paint sombre picture of lives left behind

1 year ago

Duration 2:17

Ethnic Armenians fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh 90,000 of them and counting just keep coming. They mourn the lives they left behind, traumatized by the conflict they're fleeing in the contested region that is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

A total of 21,043 vehicles had crossed the Hakari Bridge, which links Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, since last week, Baghdasaryan said. Some lined up for days because the lone roadleading to Armenia had become jammed.

The Armenian government on Saturday confirmed theexodus has nearly emptied Nagorno-Karabakh of residents since Azerbaijan retook control of the enclave in a military offensive on Sept. 19, whichreportedly killed atleast 200 ethnic Armenians and dozens of Azerbaijani soldiers.

Azerbaijan's offensive lasted just 24 hours and ended in a Russian-brokered ceasefire deal that called on Nagorno-Karabakh'sforcesto surrender and disarm.

After six years of separatist fighting ended in 1994 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by Armenia but themountainous enclave remainedinternationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan'sterritory.

During a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of the region in the south Caucasus Mountains along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed earlier.

The self-proclaimed government on Thursday announced it would dissolve itself by the end of theyear and the republic would cease to exist, according to a decree released on Facebook by the republic's president,Samvel Shahramanyan.