Nansen Legacy Lives on for Syrian Refugees in Armenia

Hovig Ashjian, a refugee from Aleppo, Syria, arrived with his family in Armenia in the autumn of 2012 (Source: UNHCR/A. Hayrapetyan)

BY ANAHIT HAYRAPETYAN

UNHCR Yerevan, Armenia

YEREVAN (UNHCR)””For Hovig Ashjian and his family, life in Aleppo, Syria, was happy before the war. He worked as a jeweler at the workshop he owned, while his wife Tamara was a chef. His 16-year-old daughter Rita went to school.

But when the conflict came and tore the country apart, his family ”” who were part of an 80,000-strong Syrian-Armenian community ”“ were forced to flee.

“I lost everything I had ”“ my house, my work, my car,”