YEREVAN. – It’s time for Europe to realize the seriousness of the Syrian crisis, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights said in Yerevan.

Nils Muižnieks said it was a rather new thing for him that Armenia sheltered around ten thousand of Syrian Armenians. He noted the echo of Syrian crisis is heard in different parts of Europe, and it was interesting to know about situation in Armenia.

It is clear that they would prefer to do something they used to do in Syria, but on the other hand it is obvious that it is a difficult process.  

According to him, the message they were asked to convey to Europe is that European countries should do more for refugees from Syria, both financially for the nearby countries sheltering refuges and directly by accepting the refugees.

In turn, the Ombudsman Karen Andreasyan said that Syrian Armenians asked to convey their message that they were accepted normally “but they complain about the lack of jobs and social problems. Bread and justice remains a problem.”