YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, ARTSAKHPRESS. Along with the large flow of Russian citizens to Armenia since the launch of the military operations by Russia in Ukraine, we should be much more prepared for the greater flow of our compatriots living in Russia, something that we have not witnessed yet, High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia Zareh Sinanyan said in an interview to ARMENPRESS, stating that at this period the number of Armenians who wish to move from Russia to Armenia is much greater compared to the previous years.
“Overall, in 2019-2022, more than 11,000 compatriots have applied to, visited or called our Office for returning to the homeland, 5000 of whom have applied in the 6 months of this year. We have provided response to all questions, as well as consulting, organizational, social and healthcare assistance. The applications mainly related to acquiring an Armenian citizenship or a residence status, registration (7000), educational (600), healthcare (600), job transfer (1000), social assistance (1000), property transfer (500) and other issues. Most of the applications were received from Russia, Lebanon, Syria, EU countries and the United States”, he said.
Mr. Sinanyan said that working groups have been set up at the efforts of his Office and the government to make manageable the flows to Armenia since the launch of the military operations in Ukraine and to ensure a maximum positive result. He stated that the main flow was from Russia, and most of the people arriving in Armenia from Russia are high-quality specialists.
“334 Ukrainian-Armenian families who returned to Armenia have applied for an assistance package, which our Office is conducting in partnership with the Armenian Missionary Association of America. I would like to note that 600 repatriated Armenians have applied to us for healthcare issues during the three years of the activity of our Office. They were mostly from Syria, Lebanon and Ukraine. All the applicants were provided with healthcare services, including complex surgeries and respective medical care”, he said.
The High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs said that the Ministry of Health, the Izmirlyan medical center, the Armenian Missionary Association of America and the Armenian General Benevolent Union have greatly assisted in this matter.
As for the quick adaptation of the repatriated Armenians, Zareh Sinanyan said that they helped 600 repatriated children to find a respective school and kindergarten in Yerevan and provinces. More than 25 Lebanese-Armenian children visited private kindergartens for free. 74 Syrian-Armenian students received a partial compensation for their tuition fees thanks to the cooperation between the Office of the High Commissioner, the AGBU and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. They also assisted in preparing documents and easily overcoming the integration stage.
“We deal with almost all issues relating to the life of our repatriates so that they have no problem. We have provided more than 7000 consulting to our compatriots seeking to get an Armenian citizenship or a residence status. We have assisted in collecting, preparing their documents and passing the process as easy as possible. We have received applications on these issues from more than 20 countries.
I want to state that in 2019-2021, 27,000 foreign citizens have received citizenship of Armenia, around 5000 others have received a permanent or special residence status”, he said.
He also informed that the design of the building of the Center of Repatriation and Integration of the Office of the High Commissioner is ready and the construction will launch soon in downtown Yerevan. The Center is going to serve for all the needs of repatriation and will closely cooperate with its partners, like Repat Armenia foundation.
