Government to increase humanitarian assistance to Armenia

Since Azerbaijan launched a military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh on 19 September, Armenia has received more than 100 000 refugees from the region in a short period of time. An emergency response plan from the UN, prepared in consultation with the Armenian Government, was presented on 7 October.

“Armenia has received a large number of refugees in a very short period of time as a result of Azerbaijan’s military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh. Now that the Armenian Government and the UN have prepared a response plan, Sweden is quickly increasing its support to shore up activities so as to meet the needs,” says Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell.

The assistance for refugee reception in Armenia will be distributed within the framework of the Government’s extensive core support to the UNHCR for 2023.

Through Sida, Sweden has already allocated SEK 15 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which conducts humanitarian operations inside Nagorno-Karabakh, and almost SEK 2.5 million to Action Against Hunger’s activities in Armenia. In total, the targeted Swedish humanitarian assistance in response to the latest developments in Nagorno-Karabakh amounts to just under SEK 32.5 million.

Sweden also contributes to civil support through the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency within the framework of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. In addition, the EU has allocated more than EUR 10 million in humanitarian assistance.