It is always tragic to see families forced to flee.

But in the midst of chaos and misery, there is also always hope that one day they will be able to return home.

Sometimes they show me the key to the house and tell me about their houses that they long for.

Now that I'm watching the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, it's different.

It is a complicated conflict with historical, religious and political overtones.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an Armenian enclave located inside Azerbaijan.

According to the Armenians, the area has always belonged to them, but according to the Azeris, it is their land.

Long conflict

When the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence in the early 1990s, war broke out.

Armenia won and Azerbaijan lost control not only of the enclave but also of the surrounding regions.

600,000 Azeris were forced to flee and have since lived as internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan.

In recent years, Azerbaijan has invested heavily in arming its army, and in the war this autumn, Azerbaijan recaptured lost territories and parts of Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Hundreds of thousands of Azeris are overjoyed to soon be able to move back to regions they were forced out of three decades ago.

At the same time, Armenians must leave the area.

Fire up their homes

This weekend was the last day for the Armenians in Kelbadjar province to evacuate.

The date was later moved to 25 November.

I went there to report and we barely had time to go into the district until I saw large clouds of smoke from several places.

At first I was confused and wondered if it might be chimneys or people lighting a fire in the garden?

But when we got closer to the houses, we saw that it was the houses themselves that burned.

Risk of new outbreaks of war

When it dawned on me that it was fleeing families who set fire to their houses themselves, I was struck by a feeling of sadness.

The bitterness and hatred is so deep between many Armenians and Azeris that some would rather burn down their houses than let the enemy move in.

Despite the fact that a peace agreement has been signed and peacekeeping forces are to patrol the area, there is a great risk of new outbreaks of war.  

Given the hard feelings many carry, the conflict will continue to be a ticking bomb.

Unfortunately, there is probably a long way to go before real peace between the peoples.