Geneva/Budapest/Yerevan, 28 September 2023: Tens of thousands of people have crossed into Armenia via the Lachin corridor leaving everything behind, since the deadly escalation of hostilities. Food, essential services, and medicines are scarce and telecommunications services have been disrupted, making it hard for families to contact one another. Armenian Red Cross teams have mobilized to meet them at humanitarian service points. People are receiving food, water, first aid, and much-needed psychosocial support there.
“The majority of people that are coming across are women, children and elderly who have been stranded on the streets of the corridor, coming into Armenia with barely any food or sufficient clothes on them with this kind of weather that is getting colder and colder,” said Hicham Diab, IFRC operations manager in Armenia.
“It is an incredible job what the Armenian Red Cross staff and volunteers are doing for an operation that will very likely not take weeks but a much longer-term effort.”
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is supporting the Armenian Red Cross to respond. In Armenia, the humanitarian needs are growing rapidly, and with tens of thousands arriving from the conflict affected area, the IFRC and Armenian Red Cross are scaling up human and financial resources. This includes ensuring an initial 3,000 people with essential items, first aid, and psychosocial support.
“Armenian Red Cross teams are supporting in registration, information provision, first aid, and psychosocial support. Assistance to people in transit, including energy bars, water, dry ration packs are also provided,” said Dr. Anna Yeghiazaryan, Armenian Red Cross Society Secretary General. “We will continue to mobilize in the medium and long-term to alleviate suffering of displaced people and meet their humanitarian needs.”
The IFRC is coordinating closely with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has been responding to the conflict for years. This week, the ICRC delivered nearly 70 metric tons of humanitarian supplies via the Lachin corridor. Its teams have also evacuated over 100 patients in need of critical medical care in recent days to Armenia via ambulance.
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