Ani Gasparyan

The Mesropyan family immigrated toArmeniafromBasra,Iraqon August 14, 2006.

They live in a rented apartment onKuznetsov StreetinYerevan. Artsrun and his wife Zebyur and their children Shahen, Salbi and Nora are all unemployed. Artsrun is a highly qualified accountant who worked for years at an insurance firm inBasra. Shahen, 32, is an electrician. He had a job with a British company. Because of this, local extremists threatened and even tried to kill him. Salbi, 29, has a degree in management, and Nora, the younger daughter, is a programmer. None of them has found work inArmenia; their applications, which indicate that they do not know Russian, are invariable turned down.

“Our ancestors immigrated toIraqfromWestern Armeniain 1924 and established the Havrez community. My family lived in that community, but in 1956 I moved toBasra, got my education, and started a family. There were about 250 Armenian families inBasra, and now there are about twenty or twenty-five families left. We adhered strictly to our traditions, had a flourishing Armenian church and an Armenian club, but they are closed now. Throughout all those years, there wasn't a single case of an Armenian girl or boy marrying a foreigner, despite the fact that we were living on their land. We meticulously stuck to our religion, language, and church.

The Mesropyan family brought nothing with them fromBasra; they weren't even allowed to sell their house and car. They only managed to bring some money, which they now spend on rent and food. “We had a very nice apartment, a nice car. Our situation there was good. Most importantly, we were important there, our family was very respected. But the extremist Shiites inBasradidn't care about that. The last two years they were threatening all Armenians, forcing them to leave. Our daughters were afraid to go outside alone. In the end, the situation got so bad that we left our house, our property and came toArmenia. Of course, we are happy that we are in our homeland, that there is nothing to threaten us here, but we can't survive here for long without jobs or a housing. Our situation has to improve somehow, “ Artsrun said.

“The work being done now and in the future by NGOs will obviously help alleviate the needs of temporary asylum seekers and solve of some of their problems,” Tanya Dashyan said. “But solving their main problems, such as unemployment, ignorance of Armenian laws and human rights, language barriers and the necessity to adapt to different socio-economic conditions, requires assistance from the government and a clear legal framework, especially now, when the number of immigrants to Armenia is increasing”