Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In December last year, Azerbaijani forces blocked the highway connecting the Republic of Artsakh and Armenia. This deliberate action left 120,000 people trapped without secure access to essential supplies, including food, energy and medical resources. The tactics employed by Azerbaijani authorities in implementing and maintaining this blockade attempted to create unreasonable and untenable living circumstances for the people of Artsakh. The blockade was deliberate, and it created a humanitarian crisis that lasted for 281 days until, on 19 September 2023, in clear violation of the 2020 ceasefire between both countries, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale offensive against the Republic of Artsakh.

Azerbaijan's ministry of defence justified this offensive by claiming it was conducting antiterrorist activities. However, we know that the reality was very different. Azerbaijan claimed its operations were not targeting civilian positions. However, witnesses painted a different picture. Strikes were reported close to large cities and densely populated areas, raising significant concerns about the safety and wellbeing of the civilian population. By the end of that fateful day, Artsakh reported that 27 people had lost their lives and more than 200 were injured. The conflict led to further turmoil as authorities evacuated over 7,000 people from settlements. Fighting ended two days later and saw Azerbaijan open the border for the first time in months.

In fear of retribution at the hands of aggressors, tens of thousands of Armenians fled Artsakh. They were forced to flee their home for fear of death. As thousands fled Artsakh to escape the threat of genocide, a catastrophic explosion at a fuel storage facility resulted in the loss of at least 170 lives and injured more than 290 people. The victims were queueing to obtain fuel for their vehicles as they fled from their homes to Armenia.

The events of September 2023 and the ongoing humanitarian crisis have deeply concerned human rights organisations and experts in genocide prevention. Alarming alerts have been issued, indicating that the ethnic Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh is at significant risk of genocide. Some argue that actions resembling genocidal acts are already taking place. The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention has made an unequivocal statement, asserting:

There is no doubt in the minds of experts in genocide prevention … that what Armenians are facing from Azerbaijan is genocide.

This assessment is not limited to a single organisation but is shared by institutions such as Genocide Watch, the International Association of Genocide Scholars and legal experts like former ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

This is even more heartbreaking in light of the history of Armenia and the genocide it faced in the early 20th century. That genocide resulted in the mass murder and deportation of over 1.5 million Armenians. Men, women and children were subject to unimaginable atrocities, including forced labour, starvation and brutal acts of violence. It was a systematic and deliberate ethnic cleansing aimed at eradicating the Armenian population from its ancestral homeland.

For many people, witnessing the unrest in Nagorno-Karabakh today has brought home horrendous memories, reopening deep wounds and reigniting a sense of collective trauma that has persisted for generations. This turmoil, coupled with the renewed violence, serves as a chilling reminder of the traumatic events of the past. There are around 50,000 Australian Armenians, most of whom are based in my electorate of Bennelong. Our Armenian community make Bennelong a better place to live. I'm proud to have a strong history of standing beside them in their fight for recognition and justice.

Today, we are seeing a humanitarian crisis of growing proportions and it has been positive to see our allies and like-minded countries commit funds to help. The European Union, Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Canada have all given financial support to the International Committee of the Red Cross and similar humanitarian organisations to deliver urgent humanitarian assistance. I'm using my time in this place tonight to call on the Australian government to do the same. Please, we must support Armenian refugees with humanitarian aid at this tragic time.