US Calls for $200 Million Allocation for Artsakh Refugees and Assistance to Armenia Against Azerbaijani Aggression

Sixty-six US Congress members have urged the leaders of the House Appropriations Committee to allocate $200 million for refugees from Artsakh, expand military assistance to Armenia, cease all military and security allocations to Azerbaijan, and explore the possibility of sanctions against Azerbaijani war criminals. This information was reported by the Armenian National Committee of America.

The letter was sent to Mario Diaz-Balart, the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee. The letter calls for $200 million to be allocated for refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, and to halt US military and security assistance to Azerbaijan. The letter also urges the US Secretary of State to consider the potential imposition of sanctions against Azerbaijani officials.

Additionally, it calls for $20 million in military funding for Armenia, as well as another $10 million for international military education and training. There's also a request for $10 million for legal reforms in Armenia and another $10 million for democratic reforms.

“We join the leadership of the Congressional Armenian Caucus and over sixty colleagues in the House of Representatives in demanding a long-overdue ban on US military assistance to Azerbaijan, sanctions against the Aliyev regime, and significant levels of US humanitarian aid for refugees from Artsakh. Given that tens of billions of American dollars are being sent to crisis regions around the world, the $20 million that President Biden has proposed but has yet to allocate to displaced Armenians from Artsakh is truly an embarrassment,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

In calling for $200 million in assistance for displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh, House member Frank Pallone and the other co-signers noted that the US and international community's response to Azerbaijan’s genocidal ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh has been completely inadequate to address these families' critical needs. The failure to guarantee their right to return to their homeland also remains a dark mark on the credibility of the international diplomatic community.

The co-signers expressed particular concern over the Aliyev regime's intentions to instigate a new war against Armenia.

“Additional assistance to Armenia in the security sector in the form of foreign military financing and international military education and training is especially vital as the Armenian people seek international support to defend their sovereignty against the continued Azerbaijani expansionism and potential threats from other authoritarian regimes in the region. That is why we must continue our efforts to ensure stability in relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” they noted.

Furthermore, members of Congress have reiterated their call to halt any military assistance to Azerbaijan in the security sector, stating that President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly demonstrated through his genocidal actions that he is not an honest broker for peace in the region, and the United States should not provide any security assistance to his regime.

US legislators have criticized the State Department and international organizations for failing to hold the Azerbaijani government accountable for human rights violations. “It is high time that the US seriously considers imposing sanctions to ensure that they (Azerbaijani officials) are held accountable for these violations of international law,” the letter states.