Carol Monaghan condemns UK Government for `abdicating moral and  ethical responsibilities` in situation around Artsakh

ArmInfo.The southern Caucasus is a melting pot of cultures, religions and ethnicities. Over the 

centuries, these different groups have at times co-existed peacefully and at other times experienced turmoil and bloodshed.  MP from the Scottish National Party Carol Monaghan stated on Tuesday in the House 

of Commons of the British Parliament during debate:  "Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenian refugees".

As the UK Parliament's press service reports, she made the following 

remarks:

"In recent memory, we saw the Armenian genocide of 1915 to 1923, when 

an estimated 1.5 million people were killed by forces from the 

Ottoman empire. As the Soviet Union began to collapse in the late 

1980s, the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave within 

Azerbaijan, officially voted to become part of Armenia. Azerbaijan 

sought to suppress the separatist movement, while Armenia backed it. 

This led to clashes and eventually a full-scale war. Tens of 

thousands died and up to 1 million were displaced, amid reports of 

ethnic cleansing and massacres committed on both sides.  The most 

recent hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan show that conflict 

is never far away. Although they have recently negotiated a peace 

agreement, tensions remain high, and if there is a peace it is 

certainly fragile. Just last year, a number of us gathered in 

Westminster Hall to raise concerns about the blockade of the Lachin 

corridor, the main supply route from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh. At 

the time, several hon. Members highlighted the potential for 

starvation and humanitarian catastrophe. The supposed Russian 

peacekeepers were at best observers and at worst actively supporting 

the ongoing persecution of the local Armenian population.  Sadly, the 

outcome we most feared was realised last September when, after a 

nine-month blockade, the Azeri military expelled the Armenian 

population. This forced displacement of a people has taken place when 

the eyes of the world are turned elsewhere. As Armenia is a small 

country with a population of 3 million, the arrival of more than 

100,000 refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as a further 40,000 

refugees from the war in 2020, has had a significant impact on it.  I 

was a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union delegation that visited 

Armenia last month. We met a group of refugees from Nagorno- 

Karabakh, who described the events of the blockade and their eventual 

expulsion in harrowing detail. They described the so-called Russian 

peacekeepers travelling to Armenia-a privilege not afforded to the 

local population-and buying goods and supplies only to resell them to 

the starving people at massively inflated prices. They described the 

difficulty of acquiring medical supplies, fuel and even water. They 

described the violent end of the blockade, when the people were 

shelled out of their homes. We heard how the shelling started at 

12.30 pm, when children were at school and separated from their 

parents. They described the chaos of people trying to locate their 

loved ones, and of people abandoning their home with just the clothes 

on their back.  The lucky ones had some fuel in their vehicles; the 

others just walked. The 40 km journey to Armenia took three days 

because of Azeri forces' continued bombardment and because of 

obstructive bureaucracy by the Azeris at the border. The lack of 

water on the journey meant that many, especially the elderly, did not 

make it.  Many of the refugees are now staying with family members in 

border towns and in and around Jermuk, but every Armenian town has 

been impacted by the influx of refugees. The refugees are, of course, 

critical of Azerbaijan, but they are also critical of the Russian 

peacekeepers' failure to protect them.  A number of officials we met 

believe that the Russian forces had been directed by Moscow to foster 

instability, not peace. This seems to be substantiated by Kremlin 

rhetoric. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov has insisted that Russia 

does not bear blame; he said that there was "no direct reason" for 

the exodus, merely that people were willing to leave. As an aside, 

non-intervention by Russian peacekeepers sets a dangerous precedent 

that international humanitarian law can be breached without 

repercussions, and opens up the risk of future Azerbaijani incursions 

into Armenia, for example to secure a path to its exclave of 

 Nakhchivan.  When we met the mayor of Jermuk near the border, he 

described the triaging that had taken place and the intensive 

support, both practical and psychological, needed for these broken 

people. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees confirmed 

that, noting that the 100,000 refugees required critical support.  

For many, this ethnic cleansing of a people has echoes of the 

Armenian genocide of 1915 to 1923. It is notable that while 34 

countries, including the USA, Canada and France, have recognised the 

historic genocide, the UK has failed to do so. Several hon. Members 

have raised that point, including the hon. Member for East Worthing 

and Shoreham (Tim Loughton). In denying formal acknowledgement of the 

historic atrocity, the UK Government continue to delegitimise the 

collective pain endured by the Armenian community. A Foreign Office 

memo from 1999 is revealing as to the motivations behind the UK's 

position. It reads:  "Given the importance of our relationship 

(political, strategic, commercial) with Turkey.recognising the 

genocide would provide no practical benefit to the UK".  I would 

appreciate a response from the Minister on whether the failure to 

recognise the historic genocide is simply an attempt to appease a 

trading partner.  Let me return to the situation on the ground in 

Armenia. In October 2023, UNHCR launched a $97 million emergency 

refugee response plan to provide urgent humanitarian aid and 

protection to the refugees and to those hosting them in Armenia. That 

support runs out at the end of this month, but not one refugee has 

been able to return home. Although there has been international 

support, for which the Armenian Government are grateful, far more is 

required. The US has committed $28 million since 2020, the EU has 

provided EUR17.5 million since September, and France committed 

EUR27.5 million in 2023. The UK, to date, has committed GBP1 million.

"I think it is important that we are not critical of the support that 

has been given, and GBP1 million is a good starting place, but I 

agree with the hon. Member. I ask the Minister what further financial 

and humanitarian support the UK will provide for the Armenian 

Government to support the refugees and their hosts in Armenia. Aside 

from providing aid, the UK Government have a moral responsibility to 

show leadership in the region. They must undertake all diplomatic 

efforts to foster dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan and help to 

create the conditions for a true sustainable peace that will allow 

displaced Armenians to return home.  In October 2023, the UK 

Government argued:  "It is vital that international humanitarian 

organisations have independent access.We therefore welcome 

Azerbaijan's decision last week to allow UN agencies into 

Nagorno-Karabakh, to complement ongoing efforts by the ICRC"- the 

International Committee of the Red Cross. However, given that the 

Armenian population had been ethnically cleansed a month earlier, 

that seems rather futile.  In January 2024, the UK Government stated:  

"We welcomed the two countries' historic joint statement of 7 

December, in which important confidence-building measures were 

announced, aimed at reaching an historic agreement and securing 

lasting peace for the region."" "First, any agreement that is reached 

has to be welcomed. Any steps forward have to be welcomed. As for who 

is concerned, the people we spoke to in the border towns who see 

Azeri incursions-who see the troops coming over the border-are the 

ones who are telling us that they do not have confidence in the 

agreement. That is because they are not seeing it being played out in 

 real time in front of them.  Given the events of the past six 

months, I was concerned to read that in November 2023 Foreign Office 

officials were encouraging British business leaders to capitalise on 

lucrative commercial opportunities in Nagorno-Karabakh to support 

President Aliyev's rebuilding agenda.  That is quite simply an 

abdication of the UK Government's moral and ethical responsibilities. 

It is also hypocritical. How can the UK Government condemn 

Azerbaijan's "unacceptable use of force" in Nagorno-Karabakh in 

September and then, six weeks later, encourage British commercial 

involvement in the region? Can the Minister provide clarity on the 

reasons for encouraging British businesses to exploit the tragic 

situation?  Despite limited attention from international media, the 

situation on the ground in Armenia remains critical. Urgent 

assistance is required for the refugees and for those supporting 

them. When we asked the refugees about their hope for the future, 

they responded that they simply wished to return home. The 

International Court of Justice has issued an order requiring 

 Azerbaijan to "ensure that persons who have left.and who wish to 

return to Nagorno-Karabakh are able to do so in a safe, unimpeded and 

expeditious manner.free from the use of force or intimidation." 

Although the Azeri Government state that return is safe, the refugees 

were clear that this is impossible. They were starved, they were 

bombed and they were killed, so their hope to return cannot be 

realised, certainly not at the present time. My final question to the 

Minister is this: what representations has he made to the Azeri 

Government on the treatment of the refugees and on their safe passage 

back to their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh?"

"When we were in Jermuk, we saw two khachkars-the posts with 

crosses-that had been removed from Nagorno-Karabakh. They were in 

pieces. We were told that there were many thousands that people could 

not take with them. The ones that we saw were more a thousand years 

old, and there will be many others left behind. It is real cultural 

destruction."

"I pay tribute to the Government and people of Armenia, who have 

ensured that the refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh have been given the 

food, shelter and support they require. I thank all those who joined 

us this afternoon in the Public Gallery, including His Excellency the 

Ambassador. Finally, I thank all Members who have participated in 

this really important debate. It is important that we shine a light 

on the troubled area of Nagorno-Karabakh and ensure that the people 

of Nagorno-Karabakh who are currently in Armenia are not forgotten."