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SYRIA'S ARMENIANS RISK A WINTER WITHOUT FOOD, SHELTER
Catholic Sentinel
Oct 1 2013
Catholic News Service
YEREVAN, Armenia - Thousands of previously middle-class Syrians now
stranded in Armenia are rapidly running out of resources and could
soon have no shelter, food or medicine, said an international aid
group official.
"There is a big need on the humanitarian side: food, shelter, medical
needs," said Walter Hajek, head of international disaster management
for Austria's Red Cross.
"The highest influx (of Syrian Armenians) was in early summer of last
year, and those were mostly of middle-class status, and they came here
thinking it would be temporary, and that was obviously not the case,"
he said.
Hajek said the Armenian government was helping Syrian Armenians with
work permits and Armenian passports, free medical care at government
hospitals and clinics, free schooling at government-run schools, and
free space at several government shelters, but this aid was not enough.
"If you go to the hospital, they treat you for free, but (buying)
medication afterward is a problem for them," he told Catholic News
Service Sept. 28. He said he had seen urgent cases of asthma, diabetes,
high blood pressure and heart conditions, medication for which was
too expensive for many of the Syrians to buy.
Hajek estimated that at least 40 percent of the Syrian Armenians now
in Armenia were children, and that many of them were in need of baby
food and baby carriages, as well as pens, paper and other school
supplies because their parents had run out of money.
"Most of the (Armenian Syrians) we met are living in apartments and
say they have no savings left, and it will be crucial to support
them," added Hajek, who was to return to Austria Sept. 29 to present
his findings and push to get funding for a project he said he hoped
would include paying the Syrians' rents and utility bills.
Hajek said his organization was already working with other
international aid agencies, including the Catholic charity Caritas,
to provide basic services to the Syrian Armenians. For instance, they
were pay for classes in the local Armenian dialect, legal advice,
and some materials needed to start small businesses.
The Armenians coming from Syria "want to work. They are not used to
receiving (charity) and they want to earn their own money. We provide
them equipment, such as ovens (and) kitchen utensils, tools they
need to start their own businesses," Hajek said, adding that several
Syrians had already opened small bakeries in Yerevan, and that at
least one had a rented a farm and intended to grow and sell produce.
Armenia is currently sheltering 8,000-10,000 Armenian Syrians. They
are the descendants of Armenians who, nearly a century ago, fled mass
killings at the hands of Ottomans in what is now Turkey, then went
on to flourish in Syria.
http://www.catholicsentinel.org/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=34&ArticleID=224 97
Catholic Sentinel
Oct 1 2013
Catholic News Service
YEREVAN, Armenia - Thousands of previously middle-class Syrians now
stranded in Armenia are rapidly running out of resources and could
soon have no shelter, food or medicine, said an international aid
group official.
"There is a big need on the humanitarian side: food, shelter, medical
needs," said Walter Hajek, head of international disaster management
for Austria's Red Cross.
"The highest influx (of Syrian Armenians) was in early summer of last
year, and those were mostly of middle-class status, and they came here
thinking it would be temporary, and that was obviously not the case,"
he said.
Hajek said the Armenian government was helping Syrian Armenians with
work permits and Armenian passports, free medical care at government
hospitals and clinics, free schooling at government-run schools, and
free space at several government shelters, but this aid was not enough.
"If you go to the hospital, they treat you for free, but (buying)
medication afterward is a problem for them," he told Catholic News
Service Sept. 28. He said he had seen urgent cases of asthma, diabetes,
high blood pressure and heart conditions, medication for which was
too expensive for many of the Syrians to buy.
Hajek estimated that at least 40 percent of the Syrian Armenians now
in Armenia were children, and that many of them were in need of baby
food and baby carriages, as well as pens, paper and other school
supplies because their parents had run out of money.
"Most of the (Armenian Syrians) we met are living in apartments and
say they have no savings left, and it will be crucial to support
them," added Hajek, who was to return to Austria Sept. 29 to present
his findings and push to get funding for a project he said he hoped
would include paying the Syrians' rents and utility bills.
Hajek said his organization was already working with other
international aid agencies, including the Catholic charity Caritas,
to provide basic services to the Syrian Armenians. For instance, they
were pay for classes in the local Armenian dialect, legal advice,
and some materials needed to start small businesses.
The Armenians coming from Syria "want to work. They are not used to
receiving (charity) and they want to earn their own money. We provide
them equipment, such as ovens (and) kitchen utensils, tools they
need to start their own businesses," Hajek said, adding that several
Syrians had already opened small bakeries in Yerevan, and that at
least one had a rented a farm and intended to grow and sell produce.
Armenia is currently sheltering 8,000-10,000 Armenian Syrians. They
are the descendants of Armenians who, nearly a century ago, fled mass
killings at the hands of Ottomans in what is now Turkey, then went
on to flourish in Syria.
http://www.catholicsentinel.org/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=34&ArticleID=224 97