Contributed by Anna Barseghyan, Armenian political analyst specialized in European Neighborhood Policy.

Armenia is one of the rare countries in the world where more Armenians are living outside of Armenia rather than inside of the country. The total number of Armenia's residents is around 3 million, whereas the number of Diaspora Armenians ranges from 7-10 million. Due to historical conditions, Armenians are spread all over the world, particularly in 85 countries. There are huge Armenian communities in Russia (2.25 million), USA (1.5 million), France (about 450,000), Georgia, Canada, Argentina, Iran, Lebanon, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Australia, Brazil and Spain.

This peculiarity creates both significant opportunities and challenges for Armenia. In the new national security doctrine of Armenia, there is a huge part devoted to Armenian-Diaspora relations. One of the most crucial components of Armenia’s national security policy is the furthering of relations and cooperation between Armenia and its Diaspora. It stressed the importance of unity between “the Republic of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Armenians dispersed throughout the world”. The new velvet government of the Republic of Armenia adopts a Pan-Armenian outlook, one of forming a unified Pan-Armenian agenda. An interesting idea is the creation of a Pan-Armenian format for resolving pan-national issues and priorities. A primary goal of Armenia-Diaspora relations is the protection of the Armenian interests, as well as the provision of progress through collective action. The Diaspora is considered an indispensable part of Armenia's competitive and powerful potential. And the government speaks about undertaking steps to involve the abilities of the Diaspora in resolving state-building, security, economic, scientific-educational, demographic, technological, modernization, and other strategic issues that pose a challenge to the country. 

According to the strategy, Armenia shall encourage repatriation through individual initiatives and state programs. “With this purpose in mind, we shall ensure sufficient conditions for Armenians to assemble in Armenia and integrate into the educational-cultural and socio-economic spheres. Armenia shall also encourage organized repatriation, with the purpose of ensuring the safety of Armenians, in times of geopolitical confrontation.” 

Right after adopting the Security on 10th July, the government of Armenia had an opportunity to show the theory in practice. After the Beirut explosion on the 4th August, the Armenian government expressed readiness to provide assistance to the Lebanese government and Lebanese Armenians. According to the most up to date information, Armenia has already sent three planeloads of humanitarian aid to Beirut. According to Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian, the relief includes 12 tons of medication, foodstuffs, and other vital supplies. The first flight was on the 8th and two more flights were carried out from Yerevan in the following days. The first plane will also carry several Armenian government officials and lawmakers, including Zareh Sinanyan, the commissioner of Diaspora affairs. They will try to ascertain the on the ground needs of the Lebanese government and the Armenian community. According to the latest data at least 11 members of the community were among the victims of the explosion. The terrible catastrophe has also destroyed or seriously damaged many Lebanese Armenian homes. Despite the solid measures, there are more expectations from the Armenian government. There is some public demand from the Armenian society that Nikol Pashinyan should visit Beirut too and organize spontaneous repatriation of Armenians. The ideas seem very patriotic and in the spirit of the new national security, however, the reality and capabilities of Armenia are a bit different. First and foremost, Armenia is a bad socio-economic condition. Because of the COVID, the Armenian economy has suffered drastically and still is in lockdown. Armenia is counting on the foreign aid to deal with the COVID situation. Even before the Beirut blast, Armenia had organized repatriation of several Lebanese Armenians during the lockdown. During 3 weeks in summer, almost 300 Lebanese Armenians repatriated with special charter flights organized by the Armenian government.

Lebanese Armenian political analyst Yeghia Tashjyan speaking about Lebanese Armenian repatriation opportunities mentioned: “Actually, there were lots of calls for repatriation of Lebanese Armenians to the motherland. Of course, it is not the first time we have such calls. Overall, the youth is ready for that. But you can't come just following the calls without an organized process. At this stage in Lebanon, people are panicking. If you have a property in Lebanon, you cannot sell it at a fair price. At this moment, the Lebanese lira is fluctuating, so it is very difficult to organize repatriation right now. My suggestion is the following. Some companies in Armenia… can offer jobs, for example in the IT sector, in tourism, in NGO's and so on. This will be a good idea. Already after the explosion, we have the announcements of some jobs and it has a positive impact. This could be a good solution. There should also be a vision between the state of Armenia and the Diaspora institutions, especially in Lebanon. Otherwise, we will have the destiny of the Iraqi Armenians, who came to Armenia and after a while migrated to the more developed countries.” Moreover, the political analyst mentioned that it would be right to organize gradual repatriation, which will be well calculated and implemented without extra panic. "We aim to settle down in our fatherland. But it should be done in a very scientific and well-calculated way,” added Mr. Tashjyan. 

According to Zareh Sinanyan: “There were 30 years to prepare for repatriation. However, we start almost from scratch. The policy of repatriation was deliberately not pursued. The prerequisites and infrastructure were not created. We are trying to create everything as quickly as possible.”

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Diaspora played a huge role in the life of independent Armenia. Besides the humanitarian aid, charitable and political support, the Diaspora played a tremendous role in attracting foreign investments. They leveraged its potential and attracted world-famous companies such as HSBC, Coca-Cola, Hyatt, Marriott, KPMG, Synopsis and National Instruments and many others. Diaspora Armenians were enthusiastic to help to build an independent homeland. However, the infamous governments of the 1990-2000s and the corrupt regime had influenced negatively the further engagement.

In 2008, the Armenian Government established the Ministry of Diaspora with the goal of institutionalizing Armenian-Diaspora relations. However, the pattern suggested by the Ministry raised more questions than answers in the relations. There was an impression that it was established not for Diasporan Armenians and what Armenia could do to foster the ties with Motherland but rather as a way to see what the Diaspora could do for Armenia. The previous ruling circles perceived the Diaspora as a cash machine to supply money for Armenia. Despite the move of establishing the ministry, there were no significant moves made during the 10 years of its existence. In 2011, the Armenian government presented a draft law to Parliament, which was supposed to boost the repatriation, but was not accepted by the Parliament. They said it was the wrong timing. Actually, we could say it was an absence of a political will. However, for the sake of justice, there is a need to mention that during the Syrian war it was organized the repatriation of 18000-22000 Armenians. It is hard to say how many of them stayed in Armenia after obtaining an Armenian passport. It is a fact that those who stayed in Armenia have successful economic integration. Syrian Armenians brought a new color and a fresh air to the Armenian economy and customer service. The imprint and the impact of Syrian Armenians are obvious in the service sector of Armenia. They are very successful owners in restaurants and fast food shops. They have already had fame as jewelers, car mechanics, pharmaceuticals and shoe factory owners.

In 2019 with the several structural changes in the government the Ministry of Diaspora converted into the Diaspora High commissions office. It had some negative feedback from the Diaspora communities as if the status was downgraded and it was the wrong message to the Diaspora. However, the new government of Armenia is going on the way of sanitizing the inflated state system. The tendency continues to this date. Only recently Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan fired ten employees of the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of the staff of the prime minister. According to the official explanation, it is due to the structural changes.

Recently the pattern of Diaspora engagement in the Armenian economy has several changes. Despite the fact that Armenia has suffered from brain drain, it is a positive tendency of brain gains at the expense of Diaspora. After the revolutions, it is obvious that the government was seeking the opportunity for professional repatriation. The government has already released two projects on Diaspora-driven brain circulation and value generation in Armenia. One of them is “Neruzh” (Armenian word for startup) which is a startup program for young (18-35) Diaspora Armenians to realize their business ideas in the homeland. The winners of the startup competition, which is based on their business plan, will be invited to repatriate to Armenia and will be awarded between $15,000 and $30,000 in funding. They will also receive mentorship in Armenia. We can see slow but constant brain gains from the USA, Canada, and Russia.  

Another crucial project is “iGorts,” (which means ‘let’s act’), which is the first large scale initiative in the history of the independent Armenia to invite 100 diaspora Armenian professionals into the Republic of Armenia’s governance structures. The specialists will be placed in State agencies in need of their expertise and will have the opportunity to lend their experience and knowledge toward improving and developing the state institution and its policies and programs. The government will cover their life fees and ticket cost.

According to the head of the division of the strategy development at the Diaspora High commissioner's office Hovhannes Aleksanyan: “The realization of the repatriation policy has strategic importance for Armenia. That is why there is an urgency to have a law on repatriation. The Diaspora High Commissioner office and the Diaspora Committee of the National Assembly have drafted a law on repatriation. The law drafting process involved scientific circles such as Yerevan State University and non-governmental organizations representing the field, such as Repeat Armenia. We also involve repatriates which will allow us to elaborate on a law that will reflect the realistic needs of the repats and will help us to organize the process properly.” 

Speaking about the importance of the law Mr. Aleksanyan mentioned that: “The law regulates the field, defines the incentives for the repats and obligations of the state. The law will also define the notion of repat, who is the beneficiary of the law who has the right of repatriation? How will they obtain the status of repat? It is also very important that the law will [clearly] define… the categories such as repat, repatriation, the family of repatriation, etc. This law is a solid base to put the repatriation process on the legal ground, and its absence was a huge obstacle before. One of the upcoming events also is the formulation of an integration center which will serve as a one-stop-shop to resolve the issues of the repats.”  

Another important practical move from the government’s side is the elimination of customs duties. "A repatriate can import tax-free used personal and household items with no original factory packaging and labeling that were purchased before his arrival to Armenia. The goods can be imported tax-free within 18 months following the repatriate’s ‘arrival for permanent residence’ to Armenia.”  Another incentive is the facilitation of the citizenship process for the repatriate. Before there was a need to be physically present in Armenia to take the passport. Now the government is trying to create a mechanism that will let the repatriate obtain the passport remotely.  

Thus, after almost 30 years of independence the Armenian government eventually making solid moves to boost the repatriation process. During the last 30 years, Armenia has faced severe demographic issues, brain drain and a loss of labor force. The well-elaborated repatriation process could be a salvation for Armenia not only to overcome the demographic issues but also to raise as a strong state, which is really the leading and uniting force of the Armenian world. It will have a huge moral significance - from a weak state, which always had a need for the Diaspora help, Armenia could show its power as a state with established institutions. However, the post COVID capabilities of Armenia could hamper the process.