Since 24 September, over 100,000 refugees arrived in Armenia from Karabakh in just a week, with daily arrivals ranging from around 500 to over 40,000 on 27 September.
Half were children (31%) or elderly people (18%). Arrivals largely ceased since 1 October, and the response moved from border areas to areas where refugees were settling, as their immediate needs remained dire.
Overall, over 100,000 new refugee arrivals constitute over 3% of the entire Armenian population (around 3 million), i.e. 1 in 30 people, which adds to the pre-existing caseload of around 35,000 refugees, asylum seekers and stateless people already present in the country.
Refugees are arriving with few belongings, physically and psychologically exhausted, hungry, and in need of urgent psychosocial support and emergency assistance. As of 1 October, key needs reported by refugees during the government registration process are shelter/accommodation (60,532 persons), food (67,370 persons), clothing items (60,396 persons) and medication (39,110 persons).
Almost all newly arrived refugees have been registered by the government (i.e. some 99 per cent of all arrivals) and authorities are now re-registering refugees where they are settling. To handle the very large daily new arrivals, the government temporarily established temporarily registration centers in Goris and Vayk, in the Syunik and Vayots Dzor province, close to the border, and then in Ayntap (close to Yerevan). Authorities are now using their existing 63 humanitarian coordination centers across Armenia, which are one-stop shop providing information and social services. In some of the centers visited by UNHCR, registration was done manually on paper and send on to the Governor’s Office.
Armenian authorities are stressing the importance of transitioning from short-term assistance to longer-term support programmes, such as access to education, livelihoods, and durable housing solutions. Both emergency shelter and access to accommodation remain challenging as the housing market is already strained. The Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) needs of refugees remains acute.
UNHCR teams have been on the ground and at the border since day one, when the first groups of refugees arrived. The Armenian authorities are providing temporary accommodation to new arrivals with no relatives in Armenia, including in hotels, social houses and schools.
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