A United Nations mission visited Nagorno-Karabakh on Sunday, Azerbaijan said, after almost the entire ethnic-Armenian population fled since Baku recaptured the breakaway enclave. An Azerbaijani presidency spokesman told media that a "UN mission arrived in Karabakh on Sunday morning" -- mainly to assess humanitarian needs. It marks the first time in about 30 years that the international body has gained access to the region. Later on Sunday, an Azerbaijani foreign ministry spokesman told that the mission had visited a checkpoint at the Karabakh border with Armenia. He said the mission -- headed by the UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan Vladanka Andreeva -- was expected to hold a press conference on Monday.

Armenian separatists, who had controlled the region for three decades, agreed to disarm, dissolve their government and reintegrate with Baku following a one-day Azerbaijani offensive last week. The end of Karabakh's separatist bid dealt a heavy blow to a centuries-old dream by Armenians of reuniting what they see as their ancestral lands, divided among regional powers since the Middle Ages. Nearly all of Karabakh's estimated 120,000 residents have since fled the territory, sparking a refugee crisis.

Sergei Astsaryan, 40, said he was among the last Armenians to leave the region. "I have no idea of where to go, maybe Europe," he told reporters, adding however that he hoped many of the refugees would return if Azerbaijan "gives guarantees, provides help." "I've talked to Azerbaijani police and they said there would be no problems if we want to return, that we can live in our homes," he said. The Azerbaijani presidency said Baku's migration service began operating in Karabakh's main city of Khankendi (Stepanakert in Armenian) to register Armenian residents to ensure their "sustainable reintegration... into the Azerbaijani society," promising them the "patronage of the Azerbaijani state".

The statement also said that central government "has started providing appropriate medical services in the city of Khankendi". Nazeli Baghdasaryan, spokeswoman of the Armenian prime minister, said "transportation of forcefully displaced persons from Karabakh is nearing its end as 100,514 refugees arrived in Armenia" by Sunday evening. She added that 47,322 refugees were now in temporary accommodation.

 
Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)