Armenians from Syria have decided to settle in their ancestral homeland

Armenians in Syria have decided to settle in Armenia shortly, a Yerevan-based charity announced yesterday.

The Armenian Development Initiatives (IDeA) foundation, created by Russian Armenian philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan, has allocated US $ 250,000 in October to support the Syrian Armenians who are seriously affected by the bloody conflict in the Middle East.

The funding aims, among other things, to help them settle and find employment in Armenia through three local non-governmental organizations. One of these NGOs, called Halep (Aleppo), brings together Syrian Armenians living in their ancestral homeland.

In an official statement, IDeA announced that 37 Armenians from Aleppo have already moved to Armenia through its project. Eighteen others told the representatives of Halep that they wanted to follow their example, he adds.

The announcement follows the capture by Syrian government troops of all Aleppo districts remaining under rebel control. Around 80,000 Armenians lived there before the civil war.

According to estimates by the Armenian government, only about 7,000 Armenians remain in Aleppo at the present time. Virtually all of them live in neighborhoods controlled by the western government of the city, bombed for years by rebel forces.

It is estimated that up to 20,000 Syrian Armenians have fled to Armenia over the past five years. Many have found it difficult to find employment in a country that has long suffered from high unemployment.

IDeA said that as of next month another NGO based in Yerevan, the Mission Armenia, will use its funding to cover the housing costs of some of these migrants.

The charity hoped to get funding from organizations and individuals in Armenia as well as from its global diaspora when it launched the aid scheme two months ago. So far, he has raised only $ 22,000.