Armenian Migration from War-torn Syria to Europe: From Diaspora to Diaspora or Homeland?
Armenian Migration from War-torn Syria to Europe: From Diaspora to Diaspora or Homeland?

Summary/Abstract: The paper presents a case study and a comparative analysis of the migration of Syrian Armenians to Armenia in the context of Syrian Civil War and refugee crisis in Europe. The fierce conflict in Syria, which has broken out in 2011, has become to threaten the very existence of the Armenian community of Syria, one of the most vibrant Armenian Diaspora communities of the last century. Hence, the paper provides a brief overview to the Armenian Diaspora community in Syria. Then it proceeds to a comparative analysis of the causes and demographic consequences of the Syrian Civil War, the European humanitarian response to the refugee crisis and the Syrian Armenian migration to Armenia. The empirical starting point of this research is that Armenia has become the major direction for Syrian Armenian migration. This phenomenon is viewed through the prism of identity based survival strategy. The paper also takes into consideration the challenges for and responses by the Armenian and European authorities towards the refugee crisis. Due to the absence of official quantitative data or reliable estimates on Syrian Armenian migration to Europe, at this point it is difficult to understand and to analyse the actual status and needs, as well as the distribution of Syrian Armenian refugees in Europe. Therefore, the paper focuses very specifically on the case study of Syrian Armenian migration to Armenia.

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