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REBUILDING A LIFE IN ARMENIA AFTER FLEEING SYRIAN CONFLICT
Washington Post
Sept 25 2014
By Nicole Crowder
In March of this year, the city of Kessab was attacked by al-Nusra
Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda. Christian Syrian Armenians
who had lived and worked in this region were forced to flee, leaving
behind businesses and properties. While many journalists covered the
refugees who fled to neighboring Lebanon, photojournalist Gianmarco
Maraviglia fixed his lens in the opposite direction: those who had
traveled back to their native Armenia. His series "Land of Fathers"
explores the new challenges many refugees have faced in the months
following the conflict, trying to readjust, away from the prosperity
they had previously known in Syria.
For many Syrian Armenians who fled to Armenia, the desire to maintain
some semblance of their previous social status determined the areas
of the country where they live. Wealthier families rented nice homes
in the center of Yeravan, the country's capital. But their savings
soon disappeared because of the lack of available steady jobs. In
response, the Armenian government proposed building a luxury housing
complex called "New Aleppo," along with several other new housing
quarters across the region. But the proposal soon came under fire,
with complaints that the housing complex was geared towards the rich
rather than being accessible for everyone. From May 2014, when this
series was photographed, until now, the land where this proposed
new housing was to be built has still seen no new development. Sheep
roam freely in an open field around a skeletal structure of what will
presumably be the new community.
The poorer among the refugees have been more or less forced to
move to Karabakh, a mountainous landlocked region in present-day
eastern Armenia and southwestern Azerbaijan. As modern settlers,
refugees have been given free housing and land to farm in the remote
area. Prior to the conflict in Syria, Armenia still represented the
homeland of their language, culture and religion. The uncertainty of
being able to sustain their livelihood for the future, however, has
left many suspended between the melancholy of exile and the material
difficulties of integration.
All photos by Gianmarco Maraviglia/Echo Photo Agency
View photos at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2014/09/25/returning-home-syrian-armenians-look-to-rebuild/
Washington Post
Sept 25 2014
By Nicole Crowder
In March of this year, the city of Kessab was attacked by al-Nusra
Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda. Christian Syrian Armenians
who had lived and worked in this region were forced to flee, leaving
behind businesses and properties. While many journalists covered the
refugees who fled to neighboring Lebanon, photojournalist Gianmarco
Maraviglia fixed his lens in the opposite direction: those who had
traveled back to their native Armenia. His series "Land of Fathers"
explores the new challenges many refugees have faced in the months
following the conflict, trying to readjust, away from the prosperity
they had previously known in Syria.
For many Syrian Armenians who fled to Armenia, the desire to maintain
some semblance of their previous social status determined the areas
of the country where they live. Wealthier families rented nice homes
in the center of Yeravan, the country's capital. But their savings
soon disappeared because of the lack of available steady jobs. In
response, the Armenian government proposed building a luxury housing
complex called "New Aleppo," along with several other new housing
quarters across the region. But the proposal soon came under fire,
with complaints that the housing complex was geared towards the rich
rather than being accessible for everyone. From May 2014, when this
series was photographed, until now, the land where this proposed
new housing was to be built has still seen no new development. Sheep
roam freely in an open field around a skeletal structure of what will
presumably be the new community.
The poorer among the refugees have been more or less forced to
move to Karabakh, a mountainous landlocked region in present-day
eastern Armenia and southwestern Azerbaijan. As modern settlers,
refugees have been given free housing and land to farm in the remote
area. Prior to the conflict in Syria, Armenia still represented the
homeland of their language, culture and religion. The uncertainty of
being able to sustain their livelihood for the future, however, has
left many suspended between the melancholy of exile and the material
difficulties of integration.
All photos by Gianmarco Maraviglia/Echo Photo Agency
View photos at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2014/09/25/returning-home-syrian-armenians-look-to-rebuild/