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Voice of America News
December 25, 2012
Armenian PM: Syrian Refugees Plan to Stay
by Jeff Seldin
It started as a trickle. Now it is a flow.
When the fighting began in Syria, some of the country's Syrian
Armenians began to head to Armenia, but as the fighting has
intensified so has the number of those looking to their ancestral
homeland. Now, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan says there are about
7,000 Syrian Armenians in Armenia and that many are losing hope of
ever going back.
"As the fighting continues, Syrians in Armenia begin making plans for
the future," Sargsyan said in an exclusive interview with VOA's
Armenian service. "Recently we met with Syrian Armenians at the
Armenian president's office. Many Syrian Armenians are interested in
moving their businesses to Armenia."
Most the refugees are from Syria's commercial hub of Aleppo, home to
an estimated 80,000 of the country's more than 100,000 mostly
Christian Syrian Armenians. Many of them located to Syria in the early
1900s, fleeing the Ottoman Empire.
Some left in a hurry, grabbing only a handful of items. Others packed
as much as they could carry, traveling in convoys for several days,
through northern Syria and Turkey to get to the Armenian border.
Sargsyan says the longer they stay, the more they feel that staying in
Armenia is their only choice.
"The challenges in front of us are helping them in transferring
finances, moving equipment, getting bank credit and assistance in
working in Armenia," he said.
A Syrian-Armenian family waits at the departure gate at Zvartnots
Airport in Yerevan, Armenia, December 2012. (VOA/D. Markosian)
Syrian-Armenians at Zvartnots Airport in Yerevan, Armenia, December
2012. (VOA/D. Markosian)
A Syrian-Armenian national holds his Syrian and Armenian passports at
the Zvartnots Airport, December 2012. (VOA/D. Markosian)
Students outside the Cilician School in Yerevan, Armenia, December
2012. (VOA/D. Markosian)
Students at the Cilician School, which was opened in Yerevan to allow
Syrian-Armenian students to follow a Syrian curriculum at an Armenian
state school, December 2012. (VOA/D. Markosian)
Students at the Cilician School in Yerevan, Armenia, December 2012.
(VOA/D. Markosian)
Workers load humanitarian aid for Syria at Zvartnots Airport in
Yerevan, Armenia, December 2012. (VOA/D. Markosian)
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has promised the Syrian Armenians
his government will do whatever it can to help them for as long as
necessary.
Armenia has already eased visa requirements and has set up a school in
Yerevan, free of charge, that teaches the Syrian curriculum so that
students do not fall behind in their studies. It has also been helping
to house refugees who do not have relatives in Armenia with whom they
can stay.
Still, as the flow of refugees grows, so does the strain on Armenia's resources.
The International Monetary Fund's most recent outlook - October 2012 -
put Armenia's unemployment rate at 19 percent, forecasting the jobless
rate will remain above 17 percent at least through 2017. And even with
the economy slowly gaining steam following a dramatic drop during the
financial crisis, the World Bank says poverty remains a problem.
Armenia's government has been spending money on targeted social
programs and on increased pensions, hoping a slowly improving economy
will ease the burden. Still, the flow of refugees from Syria,
especially those who owned their own businesses, may pose another
obstacle.
According to the World Bank, more than 12 percent of Armenia's economy
depends on remittances. Some of those payments came from the diaspora
community in Syria.
For now, Armenia remains determined to do what it can for the refugees.
"We are trying to find solutions to all their social and economic
needs," the prime minister told VOA.
December 25, 2012
Armenian PM: Syrian Refugees Plan to Stay
by Jeff Seldin
It started as a trickle. Now it is a flow.
When the fighting began in Syria, some of the country's Syrian
Armenians began to head to Armenia, but as the fighting has
intensified so has the number of those looking to their ancestral
homeland. Now, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan says there are about
7,000 Syrian Armenians in Armenia and that many are losing hope of
ever going back.
"As the fighting continues, Syrians in Armenia begin making plans for
the future," Sargsyan said in an exclusive interview with VOA's
Armenian service. "Recently we met with Syrian Armenians at the
Armenian president's office. Many Syrian Armenians are interested in
moving their businesses to Armenia."
Most the refugees are from Syria's commercial hub of Aleppo, home to
an estimated 80,000 of the country's more than 100,000 mostly
Christian Syrian Armenians. Many of them located to Syria in the early
1900s, fleeing the Ottoman Empire.
Some left in a hurry, grabbing only a handful of items. Others packed
as much as they could carry, traveling in convoys for several days,
through northern Syria and Turkey to get to the Armenian border.
Sargsyan says the longer they stay, the more they feel that staying in
Armenia is their only choice.
"The challenges in front of us are helping them in transferring
finances, moving equipment, getting bank credit and assistance in
working in Armenia," he said.
A Syrian-Armenian family waits at the departure gate at Zvartnots
Airport in Yerevan, Armenia, December 2012. (VOA/D. Markosian)
Syrian-Armenians at Zvartnots Airport in Yerevan, Armenia, December
2012. (VOA/D. Markosian)
A Syrian-Armenian national holds his Syrian and Armenian passports at
the Zvartnots Airport, December 2012. (VOA/D. Markosian)
Students outside the Cilician School in Yerevan, Armenia, December
2012. (VOA/D. Markosian)
Students at the Cilician School, which was opened in Yerevan to allow
Syrian-Armenian students to follow a Syrian curriculum at an Armenian
state school, December 2012. (VOA/D. Markosian)
Students at the Cilician School in Yerevan, Armenia, December 2012.
(VOA/D. Markosian)
Workers load humanitarian aid for Syria at Zvartnots Airport in
Yerevan, Armenia, December 2012. (VOA/D. Markosian)
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has promised the Syrian Armenians
his government will do whatever it can to help them for as long as
necessary.
Armenia has already eased visa requirements and has set up a school in
Yerevan, free of charge, that teaches the Syrian curriculum so that
students do not fall behind in their studies. It has also been helping
to house refugees who do not have relatives in Armenia with whom they
can stay.
Still, as the flow of refugees grows, so does the strain on Armenia's resources.
The International Monetary Fund's most recent outlook - October 2012 -
put Armenia's unemployment rate at 19 percent, forecasting the jobless
rate will remain above 17 percent at least through 2017. And even with
the economy slowly gaining steam following a dramatic drop during the
financial crisis, the World Bank says poverty remains a problem.
Armenia's government has been spending money on targeted social
programs and on increased pensions, hoping a slowly improving economy
will ease the burden. Still, the flow of refugees from Syria,
especially those who owned their own businesses, may pose another
obstacle.
According to the World Bank, more than 12 percent of Armenia's economy
depends on remittances. Some of those payments came from the diaspora
community in Syria.
For now, Armenia remains determined to do what it can for the refugees.
"We are trying to find solutions to all their social and economic
needs," the prime minister told VOA.