(Yerevan) For five years, Gohar lived under the threat of shells and gunfire in Syria. In 2016, she fled her native land with fear in her stomach. Like his grandmother, exiled some 100 years earlier.
Her grandmother had managed to escape the Armenian genocide in Turkey by taking the direction of Aleppo. Gohar, her husband and their three grown children escaped from the Islamic State armed group by gaining Armenia.
“All I remember is that we cried a lot, it was very traumatic,” says the 57-year-old woman, who prefers to keep her last name silent, nervous at the idea of possible consequences. “We left the country when we no longer had a choice. ”
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PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
The language spoken in the former Soviet republic is East Armenian. For many Armenians in the Diaspora, having learned the Western version, living in this new language is quite a challenge.
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PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Many refugees have had to deal with financial problems since arriving in Armenia, such as Gohar (red sweater), who recently worked in a sewing workshop.
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PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Nightlife in the Armenian capital, Yerevan
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PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
The Cafesjian Center for the Arts in Yerevan, a popular Armenian museum
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PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Armenian policemen line up for coffee.
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PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Mother Armenia statue facing Mount Ararat, Turkey
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By proving their ethnicity in Armenia, the family was able to obtain their citizenship on the spot at the consulate, even before leaving Aleppo.
Difficult establishment
Since the start of the war in Syria in 2011, an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 Syrian-Armenians have reached Armenia, part of the ancestral territory.
But their establishment in what they call the “motherland” has not been smooth. About two-thirds of them have already left Armenia.
“It was an unsuccessful repatriation experience,” admits the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, Zareh Sinanyan, at his Yerevan office.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Zareh Sinanyan, High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs
The former mayor of Glendale, Calif., Has held office for two years after the “velvet revolution” that rocked institutions in the spring of 2018. The popular uprising against a corrupt regime marked a new political era.
Mr. Sinanyan is not shy to point out past mistakes, insisting on reforms to come.
The infrastructure was not there. To absorb a large number of returnees, there must be mechanisms in place. It takes jobs, that’s important, but it also takes a lot more. From education, access to health care, the community, a process of integration.
Zareh Sinanyan, High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs
Paradoxically, the easier obtaining of citizenship also deprives these vulnerable people of access to various international programs intended specifically for refugees and asylum seekers. Syrians-Armenians also said they were victims of discrimination and found it difficult to cope with the dialect spoken there, which was different from the Armenian language learned in their community.
Lebanon crisis
The country of just under 3 million inhabitants could once again face an influx of new arrivals, this time from Lebanon, a country neighboring Syria, where 80,000 to 120,000 people – in minimum – would identify as Armenians. There are over 7 million Armenians in the diaspora.
A major economic crisis, coupled with political instability, shakes the land of the cedar. High inflation and limited bank withdrawals make it difficult for Lebanese-Armenians to leave.
Hagop Poshoghlian and his wife, Meghri Porposian, left Lebanon last year with their 5-year-old daughter Lory. “We came up with $ 600, and that’s it,” said the 29-year-old.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Hagop Poshoghlian, his wife, Meghri Porposian, and their daughter, Lory
The explosion in the port of Beirut in August 2020, caused by the improper storage of ammonium nitrate, severely damaged the Armenian quarter of the Lebanese capital, where the family was staying.
The “coup de grace,” said Mr. Poshoghlian with a sigh.
To stay
A year later, they are slowly adjusting to their new life, and Mr. Poshoghlian takes on two jobs to support his family. Despite the difficulties and pressure from relatives, particularly emigrants in Europe, they fully intend to stay in Armenia, which they had dreamed of for a while.
If we leave, my daughter will lose her identity [arménienne].
Meghri Porposian, refugee from Lebanon
Mr. Sinanyan assures that a project has been submitted to the office of the Prime Minister of Armenia to offer financial assistance “specifically for potential Lebanese returnees”, but that the High Commission was still waiting for the next step.
The difficulties experienced by the new arrivals are also a reflection of the challenges for the other inhabitants of the former Soviet republic, which has been independent for 30 years. The economic situation remains difficult in Armenia, where some 42% of the population lived below the poverty line in 2018, according to the World Bank.
Gohar does not regret settling in Armenia, even though the war in Nagorno-Karabakh last year plunged her back into her nightmares. “I started to think: now where are we going to go, what are we going to do? », Confides the woman.
The situation calmed down. When meeting with Press, she had been working for a few days in a sewing workshop to support her household, her husband having a chronic illness.
“For me, the important thing is to have a calm life,” she notes.
This report was produced thanks to a grant from the Quebec International Journalism Fund.