The European Friends of Armenia published a paper which analyses the response of the European Union, Armenia and countries in the Middle East to the Syrian refugee crisis. The study shows that by basing its approach on solidarity Armenia has demonstrated it truly does embody European values.

Armenia has welcomed around 17 000 refugees since the start of the Syrian civil war. This makes it the third European country with the biggest number of displaced people from Syria. Only Germany and Sweden have accepted more asylum seekers. Both countries rank among the strongest economies in Europe whereas Armenia has a GDP per capita ten times lower than the European Union average.

However, Armenia is the first European country in terms of refugees welcomed per inhabitant: it hosts 6 Syrian refugees per 1000 inhabitants, more than Germany (1) or Sweden (4). Given the social and economic situation of Armenia the paper finds that immigration from Syria has demanded a much bigger effort from Armenia than from any other European country.

The sudden income of refugees has led to a lot of discussions and tensions within the European Union, with governments bargaining over refugee quotas. In contrast Armenian officials made it clear that the state should be ready to welcome refugees and that it should work together with international structures and different Armenian organizations to receive them.

Though the majority of the refugees from Syria are ethnic Armenians other minorities have also found refuge in Armenia. One example is the Yazidis who face brutal persecution and ethnic cleansing at the hands of various terrorist groups, both in Syria and Iraq. Upon arriving in Armenia they have been granted an asylum status.

‘Everybody talks about the refugee crisis. Sadly, we do not hear enough about Armenia, which is really reminding the world what the meaning of European solidarity is.’ says Eduardo Lorenzo Ochoa, EuFoA Director. ‘By publishing this report we want to bring this to the attention of people and show how Armenia truly is part of the European community of values.’

The paper is available on EuFoA’s website here.

EuFoA is happy to provide commenting or background analysis in English, French, Spanish, Polish, Dutch, Greek, Russian and Armenian. Members of the Europe-Armenia Advisory Council may also be available for comments; for enquiries please contact our secretariat.

For more information on EuFoA and the Europe-Armenia Advisory Council, please visit our website at www.EuFoA.org.