Azerbaijan blocking essential goods, services to 120,000 ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh

Azerbaijan is being accused of endangering the lives of thousands of people in the Nagorno-Karabakh region by blocking the Lachin Corridor, leaving some 120,000 ethnic Armenian residents in Nagorno-Karabakh without access to essential goods and services.

Since 12 December 2022, the Lachin Corridor, the sole lifeline connecting the Armenians of Karabakh to the outside world, has been blocked by a group of Azerbaijanis.

Their demand for monitoring mining sites in the region has led to an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, with supplies being halted, shelves empty, and medicine unavailable. Planned surgeries are indefinitely postponed, putting the vulnerable population's lives at risk.

Azerbaijan's government has established military checkpoints on the road, further preventing any food or medical supplies from reaching the Armenian population.

The blockade risks jeopardising the relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union, as the country is becoming an increasingly important fossil fuel supplier, replacing Russian imports.

In July 2022 the European Commission embraced the autocratic regime of Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev, as its search for gas in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine took Ursula von der Leyen to Baku.

EC president Ursula von der Leyen and Azerbaijan president Ilham Aliyev sign the gas memorandum

There, the EC president and energy commissioner for energy Kadri Simson, met Aliyev to sign a new Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Partnership in the Field of Energy in a bid to move away Europe away from Russian fossil fuels.

Since 2014, Malta has sourced gas through Azerbaijan’s trading arm in Geneva, SOCAR, a deal tainted by corruption accusations linked to Muscat’s closest allies in government at the time the Panama Papers broke.

Members of the European Parliament are demanding action and on Wednesday, the EU's chief diplomat Josep Borrell said that the bloc is "deeply concerned" about the worsening humanitarian situation in the region.

Borrell said that Azerbaijan is disregarding an International Court of Justice ruling, ordering provisional measures to ensure that Azerbaijan ends the blockage of the Lachin Corridor.

In December 2022, European Court of Human Rights decided to indicate to the Government of Azerbaijan, to take all measures that are within their jurisdiction to ensure safe passage through the Lachin Corridor of seriously ill persons in need of medical treatment in Armenia and others who were stranded on the road without shelter or means of subsistence.

Day by day, internal supplies have been exhausted, and all transportation, including hospital vehicles, has come to a standstill, leaving people without food or medicine.

Amnesty International called on Azerbaijan’s authorities and Russian peacekeepers to immediately unblock the route and bring an end to the unfolding humanitarian crisis. 

“The blockade has resulted in severe shortages of food and medical supplies, as humanitarian aid delivered by the International Committee of the Red Cross and Russian peacekeepers has been insufficient to meet demand. Disruptions to the supply of electricity, natural gas and vehicle fuel add up to extreme hardship, especially for groups who are vulnerable to discrimination and marginalization. This must end now,” said Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Marie Struthers.

According to reports, the consequences of this blockade have already resulted in the loss of innocent lives, including two minors, whose single mother had to embark on a long, dangerous journey in search of food and medicine, leaving her children alone.