In the early 1990s, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Armenia's subsequent occupation of nearly 20% of Azerbaijan's sovereign territories led to the region's largest humanitarian crists since WWII.

The Human Rights Watch estimated that by 1992 upwards of 750,000 Azerbaijanis were ethnically cleansed from their homes in the Karabakh region by invading Armenian forces. Following the war, every 10th Azerbaijani became internally displaced in their own country.
 

Azerbaijan has one of the highest per capita concentrations of IDPs in the world. The majority of IDPs - approximately 90 % - originate from seven territories around Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been occupied by Armenia since the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over fifteen years ago. - UNHCR

The UN Security Council released 4 resolutions demanding the Armenian forces' immediate and complete withdrawal out of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, to allow the 750,000 IDPs can return to their homes. Armenia would refuse to comply for three decades, until the Second Karabakh War in 2020, when the Azerbaijani forced would drive the occupying forces out of Azerbaijan's sovereign territory. 
 

To date, few know about the plight of Azerbaijani IDPs and the atrocities, massacres and ethnic cleansing that marred their existence in the 1990s. With the lack of international awareness or support, ordinary families were forced to live in animal train cars and snake-infested tents across Azerbaijan. We will continut to honor their stories and give them a voice in the world, to ensure that their history is never forgotten.