Number of People Arriving in Armenia from Beirut Amid Israel-Lebanon Conflict

From September 28 to October 20, a total of 870 people have arrived in Armenia from Beirut via direct flights, while 470 have departed from Armenia. This information was shared with Sputnik Armenia by Zareh Sinanyan, the Chief Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, in light of the Israel-Lebanon confrontation.

According to Sinanyan, they have been monitoring developments since the first day of the escalation and are trying to understand the sentiments within the Lebanese Armenian community. “The recent developments have certainly created tension within the community, but it has not reached the level where people feel compelled to urgently leave the country. There are currently no intentions in the community to leave Beirut for Armenia. People are living by their own routine, which has not been good from the start, with unstable electricity and water supply, a profound economic crisis, but also with the hope that things will get better,” said Sinanyan.

He noted that there is no clear information about whether the citizens who arrived in Armenia have returned to Lebanon or gone to other countries, as they cannot individually track people’s movements. “It is clear that the number of arrivals in Armenia is twice that of departures. We maintain contact with various organizations and individuals in the Lebanese Armenian community to have as realistic a picture as possible of what is happening on the ground,” he added.

Sinanyan also mentioned that a large portion of the Lebanese Armenians arriving in Armenia already hold Armenian citizenship, while some have applied for citizenship. Regarding civilians who have died or been injured due to shelling, he stated that there have been no Armenians affected, as the military operations are occurring far from Armenian-populated neighborhoods.

When asked if Armenia is prepared to accept Lebanese Armenians should the need arise, Zareh Sinanyan did not provide a clear answer, noting that his perspective would be quite subjective. At the same time, he emphasized that Armenia has much greater capacity to accept Lebanese Armenians today than it did in 2011-12 for Syrian Armenians.

It should be noted that Israel has been conducting ground operations against Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon since October 1, and continues to shell the neighboring country, where over 2,000 people have already been killed and more than one million have become refugees. Despite losses (including in command), Hezbollah is engaging in ground battles and has not ceased its rocket attacks on Israeli territory. Israel states that the main objective of its military campaign is to create conditions for the return of 60,000 residents from the north who were evacuated a year ago due to shelling initiated in support of the Palestinian Hamas movement.