What happened to the ethnic Armenians fleeing the Syrian Civil War? Did they opt to return to their ancestral homeland or seek refuge in a new country? This chapter explores the often neglected migration experiences of ethnic minorities in the Syrian refugee crisis. It highlights the multidimensionality and historical complexity of diasporas and situates them within contemporary migration studies.

Diaspora–Homeland Relations Re-examined: The case of Syrian Armenians in the Netherlands

Author: Nare Galstyan

Syrian nationals account for some of the largest number of asylum applications in the Netherlands. Notably, religious and ethnic minority groups, such as Armenians, Assyrians, Yezidis and Chaldeans, are among the larger Syrian migrant population fleeing the country due to the civil war that began in 2011. The circumstances Syrian Armenians face differ from the mainstream Syrian refugee population because the Armenian government has offered Syrian Armenians citizenship in order to resettle them in their ‘ancestral homeland’. The picture becomes more complex as most Syrian Armenians do not actually have ‘ancestral’ connections with the current territories of the Republic of Armenia and consist mostly of individuals who are descendants of genocide survivors from the Ottoman Empire.

This situation opens a valuable setting for a re-examination of diaspora–homeland relations and the theoretical debates surrounding it. In this case, Syrian Armenians prefer to construct a new home in another diaspora community, where they feel ‘at home’, rather than ‘return’ to (i.e. resettle in) Armenia. More broadly, the chapter highlights the multidimensionality and historical complexity of diasporas and situates them within contemporary migration studies.

Download Book Armenian Diaspora and Stateless Power. Collective Identity in the Transnational 20th Century.