By Misak Ohanian | CAIA CEO
CAIA is the only organisation in London that combines high-quality, professional, quality-assured social welfare advice with capacity to respond to the specific needs of the Armenian community in the UK. On average we help 500+ Armenians living in the UK but born in 25 different countries with various obstacles they experience to settle and integrate. Each person has their own story of flight, survival and rebuilding. We are very sensitive to this and always strive to treat each person/family with respect. Offer practical pathways to get their voice heard through advice and advocacy services to greater independence, empowerment and fulfilment in a very dangerous and uncertain society.
During 2020/21 the Centre for Armenian Information & Advice (CAIA) had to deal particularly with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the attack against the Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) as well as the destructive effect of the Beirut explosion on the Lebanese-Armenian community.
This year, CAIA has put additional focus on helping disadvantaged UK Armenians cope with the cost-of-living crisis and Ukrainian Armenians seeking sanctuary from the war.
Armenians are a scattered people who have settled in many different countries across the world. As a result, they are also very vulnerable to any crisis that takes place in the country they have settled. Their dispersion has resulted in the loss of contact with the wider family and friends hence the vital work CAIA does to meet their various needs in the UK and elsewhere if possible. The 20,000 UK Armenian community is part of a 3 million Diaspora, which was created as a result of the first genocide of the 20th century when over a million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman government. The lack of official acknowledgment by Turkey of the attempted extermination of the Armenian people on the lands where Armenians flourished uninterrupted for 3,000 years has left a psychological mark on the Armenian identity to this day. This inherited trauma is embedded in the identity of each generation of every Armenian born in exile which is compounded each time their survival is threatened due to forces outside their control, including Pandemics, earthquakes, economic crisis and wars.
There are between 100,000 to 300,000 Armenians living in Ukraine. Many are caught up in the hardships and sufferings taking place in that country. Many have become refugees, some for a second time following the 1990 Armenian pogroms in Azerbaijan and the 2020 invasion of Artsakh. Many Armenians in Russia have become nervous and insecure too about the situation. We have also heard about some negative sentiments against Russian speakers in the UK, irrespective of their ethnicity.
CAIA is supporting a number of Armenians living/fleeing Ukraine with the first who have managed to reach the UK with our particular help. Our advice and support services continue to provide ongoing help as each new challenge presents itself.
For more information about CAIA please visit our website and like/share our social media
https://www.facebook.com/Hayashen
https://twitter.com/caia_hayashen
https://www.youtube.com/user/CAIAHayashen
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https://www.linkedin.com/company/2706396
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