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    Categories: 2020

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 08/09/2020

                                        Sunday, August 9, 2020

Armenia Sends First Planeload Of Humanitarian Aid To Lebanon
August 09, 2020

Armenia has sent the first planeload of humanitarian aid to Lebanon following a 
massive explosion in Beirut which killed at least 158 people and injured 
thousands of others earlier this week.

About 12 tons of medication, foodstuffs and other vital supplies in boxes with 
an inscription “From Armenia’s Heart To Beirut” were delivered to the Lebanese 
capital on board a chartered cargo aircraft that left Yerevan on Saturday 
evening.

The Armenian government said it will send two more planeloads of humanitarian 
aid to Lebanon in the coming days.


A cargo plane at Yerevan's Zvartnots airport being loaded with humanitarian 
supplies for Lebanon, August 8, 2020

The government in Yerevan pledged to provide relief aid immediately after the 
August 4 explosion at Beirut’s sea-port warehouses.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian described Lebanon as “one of Armenia’s closest 
friends,” implying the existence of a sizable and influential Armenian community 
in the Middle Eastern state.

At least 13 members of the community were reportedly among the victims of the 
explosion and more than 250 were injured. The devastating blast wave also 
destroyed or seriously damaged many Lebanese Armenian homes.

Zareh Sinanyan, the high commissioner for Diaspora affairs, who flew to Beirut 
along with some other government officials and lawmakers on August 8, said that 
the first planeload of humanitarian aid included items that had been asked for 
by the Lebanese government and was intended for the people and the state of 
Lebanon.

He said that the second and third planeloads of supplies to be delivered to 
Lebanon on August 9 and 11 will also include items designated for the Armenian 
community specifically.

“I find it important that the people of Lebanon understand that we remember the 
positive role that they played in the fate of our people when they granted 
asylum to Armenians fleeing the genocide [in Ottoman Turkey] and let Armenians 
prosper in their country for many years,” Sinanyan said.


Zareh Sinanyan, Armenia's High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs (file photo)
The high commissioner for Diaspora affairs said that in Beirut he planned a 
series of meetings with local Armenian leaders to assess the needs of the 
community as well as the potential for repatriation, which has been a stated 
goal of the current government in Yerevan.

“There are some 40 people who have expressed their desire to move to Armenia [on 
a permanent basis] immediately,” Sinanyan said. “There is another, much more 
sizable category of people who do want to move to Armenia, but cannot do it now 
because they want to solve issues connected with their property affected by the 
explosion. So, these are people who want to come in the medium to long term.”

The blast and its devastating consequences have led to calls for the evacuation 
of Lebanon’s ethnic Armenian nationals willing to relocate to Armenia. Some 
opposition politicians and public figures as well as Lebanese-born citizens or 
residents of Armenia have urged the Armenian government to launch special 
Yerevan-Beirut flights for that purpose.

Lebanon, a nation with a population of some 6.8 million, is home to more than 
150,000 ethnic Armenians, many of whom live in capital Beirut. As one of the 
Middle Eastern country’s minorities, Lebanese-Armenians also have their quota in 
top-level public positions, including in the government and parliament of 
Lebanon.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

 


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