In September, Azerbaijan's armed forces recaptured the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, provoking the mass exodus of the region's ethnic Armenian population. Over 100,000 people fled to neighboring Armenia and to an uncertain future.
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00:00 Tigran and his mother Manush took with them what they could when they fled from their
00:05 home in Nagorno-Karabakh.
00:11 These blankets and a few other warm things.
00:15 We only took new household electrical appliances and some fruit I had dried.
00:20 We had a small car and that was all we could fit.
00:25 The Gevorgans have been sharing this house with two other refugee families for the last
00:31 two months.
00:32 They are lucky that a woman living here on her own let them stay without asking for rent.
00:38 Other families from Nagorno-Karabakh were also living here until a few days ago.
00:43 But they've now moved out into a flat of their own.
00:47 Manush was previously a refugee in the 1990s fleeing Turkmenistan for Nagorno-Karabakh.
00:54 She never thought that one day she'd have to pack up again and look for a new home.
01:00 This time nearly every resident has left Nagorno-Karabakh in an exodus they haven't yet come to terms
01:07 with.
01:08 After more than 100,000 Armenians escaped from Nagorno-Karabakh, many of them are still
01:13 in shock.
01:14 For a nation deeply rooted in tradition, being separated from the land of their ancestors
01:20 is perhaps the biggest blow of all.
01:24 Every day Armenians come to pay their respects to those killed in the wars over Nagorno-Karabakh.
01:31 This so-called Cemetery for Heroes opened in the capital Yerevan in the early 90s.
01:37 The conflict has since claimed more than 35,000 lives on the Armenian side.
01:44 We've lived through four wars and that's enough.
01:47 We are tired of war and bloodshed.
01:50 We just want to live normal, quiet lives.
01:54 The Gevorgans are trying to live normal lives in this village, along with dozens of other
01:59 refugee families from Nagorno-Karabakh.
02:02 They get along well with the villagers, but the future looks bleak.
02:06 Most are out of work, although some men earn a living driving taxis.
02:11 Many of the refugees depend on social services provided by Armenia.
02:16 The European Union and international aid agencies also help, but it's not enough.
02:24 The arrival of more than 100,000 people from Nagorno-Karabakh is a huge burden on the Armenian
02:29 economy.
02:31 Most of these people have outstanding bank loans.
02:35 The banks in Nagorno-Karabakh were all Armenian and their customers owe half a billion dollars.
02:45 Most of the refugees are in no position to pay off their debts.
02:48 They've lost everything they owned overnight.
02:52 Many accuse the Armenian government of giving up Nagorno-Karabakh too easily, and they wonder
02:57 why so many men lost their lives in the wars of independence.
03:03 Tigran's father David fought with Nagorno-Karabakh's army and, like other former soldiers, is bitterly
03:09 disappointed.
03:10 He is under no illusion that his family has any long-term future in Armenia.
03:15 "We want to leave and go abroad."
03:20 "To give the children a future."
03:25 The Georgians are not alone in wanting to leave Armenia.
03:29 But most of the refugees just want to return to their beloved homeland Nagorno-Karabakh.
03:34 But they have no idea whether that will ever be possible.
03:37 (door opens)