THE United Nations refugee agency said yesterday that it was seeking US$97 (RM460) million to aid the thousands of ethnic Armenians who have fled Nagorno-Karabakh after the lightning offensive by Azerbaijan last month.

The Armenia Refugee Response Plan aims to raise the funds by March 2024 to help an estimated 136,000 people who have fled the enclave for Armenia, and a further 95,000 people helping to accommodate them.

“This plan also takes into account the difficult winter months that are coming, when essential support will be necessary,” the UN’s office of the High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement.

“We are calling on the international community to urgently support the refugees and their hosts,” refugee commissioner Filippo Grandi said.

He insisted on the immediate need to protect refugees from sexual violence and ensure food and health needs as well as housing.

The European Union will host talks between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan this month to try to reduce tensions between the arch-foes Armenia and Azerbaijan following Baku’s lightning offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan took control of the region for the first time in three decades after a one-day offensive that sparked a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians. – AFP, October 8, 2023.