YEREVAN. – There is no destruction and panic in Syria’s Armenian districts. Simply, people avoid going out into the street because it is dangerous when there are clashes in the streets, Armenia’s Diaspora Minister Hranush Hakobyan said Tuesday, at capital city Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport, while welcoming the third group of Syrian-Armenian children who arrived to spend their summer holidays in Armenia.

In the Minister’s words, no one can force anyone to leave their homes and come to Armenia. But if the Syrian Armenians do wish to come, additional flights have been scheduled for them.      

“Each moment dictates a new situation. The more serious the situation becomes, that much more people would want to come,” she said, and added that the current situation in Syria is bearable for the local Armenians, since they are not in a state of panic.    

Hranush Hakobyan also noted that Syrians do not wish to move to Lebanon. “There is no such thing. Solely some families have relocated,” she said. 

Reflecting on the matter of Syrian-Armenian children’s receiving education in Armenia, the Diaspora Minister informed that the Ministry has set up a working group comprising Diaspora Armenians, and it is attempting to determine what type of schools these children should be educated in.  

In Hranush Hakobyan’s words, there are close to 1,500 Syrian Armenians currently living in Armenia, that is to say, approximately 250-300 Syrian-Armenian children who must be considered. Some of them reside in Yerevan and others live in the regions.

To note, around 60,000 Armenians live in Syria, and great majority of them reside in Aleppo and Damascus.