On April 29, 2023, a significant milestone was reached in the struggle for the rights of displaced Armenians. During the conference titled “Old and New Refugees of Azerbaijani Aggression: Past, Present, and Future,” a formal declaration was adopted to address the long-standing grievances of hundreds of thousands of compatriots.
Reclaiming the Historical Narrative
The declaration outlines a consistent pattern of xenophobic and Armenophobic policies pursued by various Azerbaijani administrations since 1918. A central focus of the document is the lack of international legal accountability for the state-instigated massacres and forced deportations that took place between 1988 and 1991 in Sumgait, Baku, Kirovabad, and Northern Artsakh.
Core Demands and Objectives
The signatories, including “The A.D. Sakharov Armenian Human Rights Protection Centre” NGO, have put forward several critical demands directed at the international community:
- International Status and Recognition: An appeal to the UN Security Council and the UNHCR to officially recognize the systematic nature of the displacement and the specific refugee status of those affected.
- The Right to Return: The demand for the safe, dignified, and secure return of refugees to their ancestral homes and places of birth.
- Restoration and Compensation: A call for full material and moral compensation for lost property, livelihoods, and the trauma of forced displacement.
“We must unite our resources and efforts to ensure that the rights of displaced Armenians are not forgotten in the halls of international diplomacy.”
One of the most actionable points of the declaration is the call to form a Common Platform. This initiative aims to consolidate the voices of various NGOs and refugee advocacy groups representing those displaced from Azerbaijan, Artsakh, and Nakhijevan. By uniting, these groups can more effectively lobby international bodies like the OSCE Minsk Group and the UN.