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The Armenian communities in countries of the Middle East continue to face dangers pertaining to security, economic and social issues, a Diaspora official said on Tuesday.
Zareh Sinanyan, High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs at the Armenian Government, said on March 4 that his office maintains focus particularly on Syria and Lebanon.
He said the situation in Syria is unstable. “The Prime Minister has instructed me to visit Syria in April. There was a crisis during the days when the Aleppo offensive began. We were getting a lot of applications from our compatriots. They were asking to be evacuated from Syria. It was impossible logistically, especially when hostilities were taking place there. A week later Damascus fell. In the first days 40 Armenians were able to cross into Lebanon and then travel to Armenia. Then virtually the entire flow stopped, but in the last one month we have seen a steady flow of Syrian-Armenians into Armenia. More than 200 Syrian-Armenians arrived to Armenia since early December of last year,” Sinanyan said at a press conference.
Sinanyan said his office continues to view Lebanon as endangered because no significant improvement in living conditions has taken place there. He said Armenians are likely to leave. The integration center of Sinanyan’s office is actively working with all those willing to relocate, he said. The Armenians of Lebanon are experiencing grave financial problems, Sinanyan said. “Our center is utilizing its entire resources to solve their problems. We have numerous partners with whom we are cooperating to have the flexibility required to swiftly resolve the issues. We don’t have an open fund, but I would really like to have it, in order to swiftly respond to our compatriots’ problems. But today we are doing it to some extent too,” Sinanyan said, adding that the office, through partnership with colleagues, has covered the air ticket costs and accommodation fees for some families.
“If we don’t create conditions for our compatriots to establish residence in Armenia in a dignified way they will find alternative countries,” Sinanyan said.
