The Front Page: Armenians in New Zealand explain refugee crisis tearing families from homeland

A displaced man from Nagorno-Karabakh sits in a temporary shelter. Photo / Getty Images

Artsakh is a ghost town.

The disputed territory, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, was once home to around 120,000 ethnic Armenians. Artsakh is officially viewed by much of the world as part of Azerbaijan, but ethnic Armenians predominantly populate it.

In September, Azerbaijani forces enacted a large-scale military offensive against the breakaway state.

This led to residents fleeing and a decree that saw the abolition of all Nagorno-Karabakh institutions.

The military and geo-political tussle between Azerbaijan and Armenia has led to a humanitarian crisis, with families being forced to leave their homes to evade the conflict.

Despite the gravity of the situation, the story has all but faded from public attention.

Western eyes are instead currently focused on Israel and Ukraine, while the struggles of these Armenian families are largely ignored.

One person who has been speaking about the chaos is Dr Maria Armoudian, a senior lecturer on politics and international relations at Auckland University.

She tells The Front Page podcast that this is a story of people being denied their right to live in their homeland.

“In essence, Armenians wanted to stay on their indigenous lands,” Armoudian says.

“This is where their parents and grandparents, and their graveyards and churches [have been]. So they stayed, and they maintained that lifestyle as much as they could, but then Azerbaijan started to squeeze them, cutting off all food, water and energy. It’s winter, they’re freezing and they can’t feed their children. It’s a really horrific situation.”

After these measures, a military attack ensued, which left the families with no choice but to leave their homeland.

“They forced them out of their homelands, and they fled to Armenia, which was the closest place they could go. There are 120,000 refugees, which have nothing. They’ve left everything.”

Dr Anna Matevosyan, a former student at the University of Auckland, recently returned to Aotearoa from Armenia and also joined The Front Page.

She says the families that fled Nagorno-Karabakh are simply looking for a place to stay.

“In our village, we have a couple of families who have found temporary accommodation. They’re getting support from strangers or relatives in the form of very basic supplies. They had to escape Artsakh to save their lives, without anything. They just got into their cars and moved to Armenia.”

This story is personal for Matevosyan, given that her mother’s side of the family actually comes from this region.

“My grandparents and my aunt were refugees in the 1990s, so it’s very personal for me... During 1988 and 1990, when the [previous] war was ongoing, I was living in a frontline village... My family, including my father and uncles, had to go and defend the border... That was all happening at around the age of 10. Even then, I could understand that being Armenian is not a very safe thing.”

So is there any hope of this crisis resolving? And what role can New Zealand play in this geo-political tension?

Listen to the full episode of The Front Page for an in-depth discussion on this issue.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. It is presented by Damien Venuto, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in business reporting who joined the Herald in 2017.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.