UPDATED: 13 December 2013, 21:30
According to numbers in a report by Amnesty International and an article in The Economist magazine, Armenia has taken in nearly as many Syrian refugees as the European Union and more than France, Italy, the UK, Spain, and Germany combined.
The scathing Amnesty International report takes Europe to task for utterly failing to help during the worst refugee crisis “since Rwanda” and calling their response “pitiful.” The European Union (area: 4.38 million km²), according to the report, has admitted about 12,000 refugees from Syria. The bulk of them, 10,000, have gone to Germany.
The report cites the following figures:
- Only 10 EU member states offered resettlement or humanitarian admission places to refugees from Syria.
- Germany is by far the most generous – pledging to take 10,000 refugees or 80 per cent of total EU pledges.
- Excluding Germany, the remaining 27 EU member states have offered to take a mere 2,340 refugees from Syria.
- France offered just 500 places or 0.02 per cent of the total number of people who have fled Syria.
- Spain agreed to take just 30 or 0.001 per cent of refugees from Syria.
- Eighteen EU member states – including the UK and Italy – offered no places at all.
Armenia (area: 41,000 km²) has taken in approximately 11,000 refugees from Syria according to an Economist article.
The burning question: could it be that Armenia has more money to deal with this humanitarian crisis than the European Union? The staggering results surprised us and they might surprise you.
Armenia GDP: $19.649 billion
EU GDP: $16.214 trillion
Europe not only has a higher GDP; its GDP is higher by approximately 16.02 trillion dollars. That comes out to the EU grossing twice as much domestic product than Armenia every doggone day.
So, Armenia, which has 0.93% of the EU’s landmass, 0.12% of Europe’s GDP, has taken in more Syrian refugees than Germany and almost as many as the entire European Union.
I can’t believe that Europe, the giver of democracy, civilization, and Christianity to places like the whole world outside of Western Europe could suddenly turn its back on a problem that it probably had a big hand in creating. That’s never happened before.
Europe, you’re a loser.
Armenia, you rock.
By: William Bairamian
Note: In the original post, I wrote that there were 10,000 Syrian refugees in Armenia according to The Economist article. In fact, according to the article, there are 11,000 refugees from Syria who have found safe haven in Armenia. The number of refugees admitted by the European Union according to Amnesty International, 12,000, was recorded correctly here. Thanks for the correction, buddy.
Great post, thanks for sharing; I like this way of looking at things!
(…as in being optimistic rather than taking the easy and present-day-socially-acceptable way out by using the number 10,000 as a vehicle for trash-talking Armenia and diminishing global Armenian morale.)
Now the question: Would Armenia accept Muslim Syrian refugees? As thost 10.000 Syrian Refugees that Armenia accepted are for the most part Armenians. Only a small group are actual Arabs.
do you know for a fact that Muslim Syrian refugees applied to go to RoA and were turned down ?
or you are just agitating against Armenia ?
Armenia should accept Syrians, any Syrians, and would.
There are about 40,000 Yezidis living in Armenia: have been living in Armenia safely for generations.
When Turks were jailing them for speaking Kurdish, the Government of Armenia SSR was paying for Kurdish language schools and Kurdish language radio.
20K-30K Muslim Iranians go to Yerevan every year to celebrate Nowruz in peace and tranquility.
There are also many Muslim Iranians living in Yerevan, and many are married to the locals.
so your provocative question about RoA accepting Muslim Syrians is a vile attempt to make Armenia look bad.
your ulterior motives and agenda are for you to contemplate.
did you ask the same question to Israel ?
Israel is responsible, in part, for stoking the foreign supported war in Syria.
how many Muslim Syrian refugees has Israel taken in so far ? (Answer: 0)
how about France and US: both countries openly supported the insurrection, the Al-Qaeda terrorists, and the escalation of the war in Syria, which caused the massive flow of Syrian refugees.
how many 1000s of Muslim Syrian refugees has France pledged to accept ? Only 500.
Not 500,000, not 50,000, not 5,000, but FIVE HUNDRED.
How about US ? Less than 100 so far.
Did you know that Baykar ?
the truth is you do not care about Muslim Syrian refugees: not one bit.
You are Anti-RoA, so are looking for any excuse to create division and discord in Armenia and amongst Armenians.
No, only a handful maybe but in general the answer to that question is a simple no. Armenia is a nation that Armenians have paid for dearly and the country is for Armenians. Muslims shouldn’t be welcome to live there with the only exception being Persians. (Not Iranians, but persians).
The only time I might change my view on this is when the majority of the muslim countries recognize the Armenian genocide and condemn Turkey. When Turkey restores and pays back all of the stolen property and land to the rightful Armenian owners and when Armenias GDP becomes so high that we can take care of our own Armenian population before bringing in random muslims.
As you can see I won’t be changing my mind anytime soon.
Bravo to Armenia. As the Economist article states Armenia is the safe haven for Armenians worldwide.
The real question is why aren`t the Syrian Arab refugees being taken in by rich Arab countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.
They take care about Syrian ARMENIANS!! Maybe the armenian genocide rings a bell
the author of this article is retarded – most of the refugees Armenia has admitted are Christians, in fact, statistics from the Armenian government show almost 99% of them are Christians who have been or were at risk of persecution by muslim terrorists such as isis. Europe, should admit more CHRISTIAN refugees who are more compatible with European ideals than muslims.
For those who are making muslim/christian issue here…please go ahead! Let’s talk about KSA, kuwait, uae, oman, bahrain, Qatar…and all those poor syrian muslim refugees they accepted! Oh wait!! No! They didn’t! How stupid of me…before shit talking about who Armenia accepts and talking about whether it accepts muslims or christians..start with ur dear muslim countries as saudi arabia (which is too busy fuding the war instead of taking in anyone)
Any Syrian traveling to Armenia for safe heaven is welcome…unfortunately as stated in the article…Armenia doesn’t have the economic means to take in refugees and of course within it’s limited capabilites it started taking in the Armenian-Syrians without denying access to anyone and serving as an important landing ground for any syrian who wants to pass to a 3rd country
Something rich muslim nations are not doing…so enough hypocrisy for one day…what a bunch of morons
Please do not forget to inform that Armenia provides no normal conditions for the refugees (i dont agree that it doesnt have economic means…It would have economic means IF the government doesnt steal the means) and 80% of those try to move from Armenia as soon as they get Armenia passport – Canada, USA, France etc
This is bullshit. I know for a fact that Armenia only accepts Syrian-Armenian refugees. I have many non-Armenian friends who wanted to come to Armenia and were asked to apply for visas that take up to a month. People were denied entry on the boarder, This article is an absolute disgrace.
Would you know where we can send clothing and supplies to Armenia for the Syrian refugees? I have been asked several times. I have a group of young moms who have like new clothing and blankets that they would like to share. I know the need for funds is great. But there are clothing needs that could be met. if you know, please post.
Thanks so much.
Thank you Avery – you already said what needed to be said!
Even if the refugees are all Armenians, they are SYRIAN nationals where they were born, bred, educated and contributed to Syrian economy since 1915 why would they not want to take refuge in Armenia!???And remember that unless a refugee knocks at the door of a host country – in this instance let’s say Armenia- NOT one government would approach the unfortunates inviting them as refugees! These 11000 people CHOSE Armenia as opposed to crossing seas in dangerous boats as their safe heaven and were NOT TURNED BACK.
Good on you Armenia and I’m proud to be Armenian!
Limit, the most important fact is: no matter what Armenia’s economic situation is, the lives of 11000 people were saved! They can go wherever they wish to from there.
I am not happy that the public servants fill up their pockets (a very well known fact), but this is an internal matter. The voters should think twice before electing greedy politicians.