The European Union has allocated about $500,000 in economic assistance to ethnic Armenians from Syria who have taken refuge in Armenia after the outbreak of the bloody conflict in the Middle Eastern state.
About 13,000 Syrian Armenians live in their ancestral homeland at present. Most of them are struggling to survive in a country that has long suffered from high unemployment.
The EU assistance announced on Thursday is geared towards those refugees who would like to set up their own businesses. It will take the form of logistical and material support and counselling to be provided by the Armenian Red Cross Society (ARSC).
“They key thing is to create a business network of Syrian Armenians,” said Edmon Azarian, a senior ARSC representative. “For example, if there are pastry makers among them we could try to bring them together and launch a business.”
Firdus Zakarian, the head of a Diaspora Ministry task force on Syrian Armenians, stressed the importance of the EU aid allocation. “As a result, we will have many more families with their own small businesses several years later,” Zakarian said during the official presentation of the scheme in Yerevan.
The ARSC has been engaged in aid programs for Syrian Armenians since 2013. With funding from Austria’s government and the Austrian Red Cross, the non-government group has provided about 300 such families with food, medication and essential household items.
The ARCS has also conducted business start-up trainings and supplied equipment to refugees interested in entrepreneurship. As part of that effort, it enabled several dozen Syrian Armenians to sell pastry, confectionery and various handmade items during an open-air fair in downtown Yerevan last May.
Hoa-Binh Adjemian, an official from the EU Delegation in Yerevan, said Armenia should make the most of the business skills and ideas of its new residents, many of whom have a long history of entrepreneurial activity in Syria. He expressed hope that their business initiatives will also be financially supported by the Armenian government and other foreign donors.
Since 2013, the cash-strapped government has subsidized loans extended by local commercial banks to some 70 Syrian Armenians doing business in Armenia. Some of those businesspeople called for an extension of the scheme earlier this year.
Mikael Garabed, an Aleppo-born jeweler, said they also hope that the government will help them promote their products in and outside Armenia. “In terms of business, our most important challenge is to gain recognition and buyers,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).