Empower disadvantaged Armenians with legal advice

by Centre for Armenian Information & Advice (CAIA)
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Empower disadvantaged Armenians with legal advice
Empower disadvantaged Armenians with legal advice
Empower disadvantaged Armenians with legal advice

Project Report | Nov 8, 2024
Empower disadvantaged Armenians with legal advice

By Misak Ohanian & Sophie Holloway | Ukrainian Armenian Refugees in London

Three Ukrainian Armenian refugees on the left
Three Ukrainian Armenian refugees on the left

Why Supporting Armenian Refugees Matters to All of Us

Armenians are an ancient people with a history that spans over 3,000 years. For centuries, they have lived in the region between the Caucasus and Anatolia, stretching from the Mediterranean to the Black and Caspian seas. Throughout this time, Armenia has been a theatre of countless wars and invasions. Indigenous Armenians have faced repeated massacres and colonization under various empires, including the Romans, Mongols, Persians, Russians, and Ottomans, culminating in the genocide of 1915–1918.

The Armenian story is one of remarkable resilience. Armenians have been forced to seek refuge time and again, looking for safe places to rebuild their lives, families, and communities. Across the globe, Armenian communities have made lasting contributions in host countries, from India to Africa, South America to North America, and Eastern Europe to the Middle East. Yet, because of their history of dispersion and fragmentation, Armenian communities often remain vulnerable to fresh upheavals.

Over the past 40 years, Armenian refugees have suffered from new waves of conflict and political instability in countries like Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jerusalem, Azerbaijan, and, more recently, Ukraine.

Read the article below to learn about the experiences of Armenian refugees from Ukraine and how they have found support at the Centre for Armenian Information & Advice (CAIA), which is dedicated to helping disadvantaged and vulnerable Armenians.

Ukrainian Armenian Refugees in London

It was not only Ukrainians who left the country after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Ethnic Armenians were among the many millions forced to flee. Kevorg, Nathalie and Karine are three such people who sought refuge in Britain. I had the pleasure of chatting with them over a coffee and some delicious pastries at the Cardinals of Mayfair Cafe in Marble Arch, where we discussed their new lives in Britain.

Kevorg left Armenia for Ukraine when he was 17. “It was during Soviet times,” he says. “I wanted to get out of Armenia, see a bit of the world – and I had literally dreamt of coming to Ukraine.” Kevorg soon began a new life in Ukraine, where he met his partner, Nathalie, and started a business in jewellery making. Nathalie had a job in the local authority. When war broke out in February 2022, his business packed up. “Seven months after the conflict, we left,” says Kevorg. “There was nothing we could do there.”

The couple filed an application for asylum in the UK – with the aid of CAIA. “When the conflict broke out in 2022, the CAIA received a lot of emails from abroad – basically pleas from help,” says Arthur Manuk Cahill, an advice worker at the organisation. However, the couple’s son, who serves in the army in Ukraine, remained. 

“My son thinks like an Armenian, but he breathes Ukrainian air. He was born there – it’s his homeland,” says Kevorg. “He felt it was inappropriate to leave the forces, as he holds a high position there.” Watching the ongoing destruction in Ukraine is heart-breaking for Kevorg. “I drank their water, ate their food and their bread. It felt like a second Armenia to me,” he says.

Karine, who has been working at the Cardinals of Mayfair Cafe since moving to the UK, had never travelled outside of Ukraine prior to the war. She had been living in an Armenian community there for 26 years. Still on her shift, I only have a few minutes with her to chat. She recalls the pain of abandoning one’s entire life so suddenly. “It’s very hard because you don’t understand what’s going to happen in the future,” she says. “You leave you whole life, your job and your friends.”

Communication has been the most significant barrier to integrating, Karine explains. “There’s been a problem with language,” she says. “You wish to understand people, but you don’t yet have the skills.”

Kevorg and Nathalie do not yet speak English, I communicate with them through Arthur. Aside from the issues with language, Kevorg says he has had to grapple with a change in lifestyle. “[We live in] blocks of flats here, and people don’t know each other,” he says. “Whereas back home, we live together. If you were up to no good, people would know about it!”

Forced migration hits generations in different ways. For the older generation, integration and adaptation to new ways of life can be especially challenging. “When you’re young, you can leave everything,” says Karine. “You don’t have family, property, or business. But when you’re older, leaving is very hard. Because you have roots there. You can’t just leave it all.”

Although all three of them have spent most of their life in Ukraine, they are still attached to their Armenian roots. Kevorg recounts with amusement Brits’ interest in the Armenian identity. “The English people have been very curious about our identity,” he says. He brings up Lord Byron, who studied Armenian. “Do you know what he said?” He asks me, with a twinkle in his eye. “If you want to speak to God, you speak Armenian – that came from Lord Byron,” he asserts. “Wherever Armenians go, they always build a church,” Arthur adds. “The church is always at the centre of their community.”

While war has continued to rage in Ukraine – and more recently in Gaza – violent escalations in Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave in Azerbaijan with a majority Armenian population (until September last year), have largely gone unnoticed by the international community and mainstream media. In 2023, over 100,000 ethnic Armenians were forcibly displaced from the region by Azerbaijan and have not yet been able to return to their homeland.

It’s politics,” says Kevorg. “You show one side, but you don’t show the other. Ukraine was highly publicised – and still is, every day. They want to keep it going. But the Karabakh one, there’s nothing. It’s all to do with geopolitics. There are a small group of people – they’re insignificant.”

Although Karine has lived in Ukraine her whole life, up until the war, her Armenian heritage is just as precious to her. “I’m half Armenian, half Ukrainian,” she says. “My father said, ‘If you cut one finger, it has pain. If you cut a second finger, the pain is still the same. My heart has pain when there’s something happening in Ukraine or Armenia. I feel pain for both countries.”

Written by Sophie Holloway

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Jun 17, 2024
Empower disadvantaged Armenians with legal advice

By Misak Ohanian & Arthur Manouk Cahill | CAIA CEO & CAIA Advice Worker

Feb 14, 2024
Tackling Challenges Faced by Ordinary Armenians: A Story of Resilience and Support

By Misak Ohanian | CAIA CEO

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Organization Information

Centre for Armenian Information & Advice (CAIA)

Location: Acton - United Kingdom
Website:
Facebook: Facebook Page
Twitter: @caia_hayashen
Project Leader:
Misak Ohanian
Acton , United Kingdom

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