Empower disadvantaged Armenians with legal advice

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

Links:

• https://caia.org.uk/

CAIA seeks to promote well-being and access to statutory rights and other available support services to improve the quality of life of vulnerable UK Armenians.

Every day CAIA encounters people who experience struggles that are both universal and deeply personal. These particularly apply during periods of high inflation and the cost-of-living crisis which weighs heavily on those on low income, many of whom remain unaware of available support and are hindered by pride from claiming their rightful benefits.

According to a collaborative survey CAIA undertook with “HEAR Equality and Human Rights Network” on the impact of inflation on our London community we found out that inflation had a deep and hard impact on those we seek to help. The issues people are struggling with most are:

• Food
• Gas and Electricity
• Childcare
• Rent has gone up
• People have stopped going on holiday to be able to afford their basic needs

The CAIA Advisory Service is the only such specific provision addressing the daily stressful challenges these vulnerable individuals and families face.

During 2023/24, thanks to CAIA’s advisory provision we helped mitigate some of the harsh impact of inflation and the cost-of-living crisis by:

• Helping 552 people born in 30 different countries
• A total of £525,182.20 was raised in financial support & welfare benefits such as Universal Credit Housing Benefit, PIPs and Child Benefit which otherwise would not have been claimed
• 167 clients benefited from fuel & poverty support such as weekly grocery boxes and shopping vouchers to those qualifying
• 184 clients were provided with immigration advice
• 1,224 pieces of advice were provided, with 3,334 interventions / actions take to progress the cases
• 257 housing & homelessness related queries were dealt with
• 20 disabled people/carers were helped to overcome barriers by securing travel concessions
• 17 people were assisted to find or maintain employment.

In addition, to empower and help people’s personal growth and long-term resilience CAIA organised a Financial Wellbeing Workshop in February 2024 in association with The Money Charity. Topics covered during the well-attended workshop included:  -

• Financial wellbeing and the cost of living
• Budgeting & Keeping Track
• Credit, borrowing and understanding your credit score
• Where to access support for help with debt
• Savings
• Making your money go further

(See photo from the workshop)

A heart-warming example of positive impact is shared below: -

Mr and Mrs A are elderly digitally excluded married couple from the Middle East. They came to England some years ago to escape the troubles in their home country.

They rented accommodation outside London and went through the process of eviction by their landlord. The local council originally dismissed their homelessness application. They were advised to return to their home country, despite accumulating many years integrating and settling in the area. They sought assistance from CAIA. The CAIA Advice Worker, after carrying out a holistic review, ascertained that Mr and Mrs A were owed a duty by the local Council.

Following the intervention and advocacy by CAIA’s Advisory Service the couple returned and resided in temporary accommodation whilst the review was being carried out. After a lengthy period of advocacy, Mr and Mrs A were finally allocated permanent social housing in their original locality. The Advice Worker continued to work tirelessly to ensure that the couple were able to pay their new rent and council tax by means of successful applications for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support. In addition, the CAIA Advice Worker made sure that their welfare benefits entitlement increased following a review. This enabled the ageing couple to cope much better with their new living circumstances.