Syrian Armenians treat decision of Armenian government to simplify procedures for entry as correct, but belated

According to the official information, during the first seven months of the current year, 3000 Syrian citizens of Armenian nationality received visas to enter Armenia. Some representatives of the Syrian community have highly appreciated the efforts of the Armenian government; however, they consider the simplification of the procedures for entry into the country to be rather belated.

Representatives of the Syrian community and a number of the public organizations pointed out the necessity to simplify the entry to Armenia several months ago. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by architect Grigor M., who came from Syria with his wife and his 10-year-old son.

"We came to Armenia several months ago, and, naturally, we applied for the visas through the Embassy of Armenia in Damascus, which created some difficulties, taking into account the current tense situation in Syria. We and a number of public organizations pointed out the need to simplify the procedures for entry to Armenia several months ago; however, the Armenian government has made such a decision only now," said the source.

According to him, at present, it is necessary to solve the problem with the special conditions in the educational institutions of Armenia for the children, who arrived from Syria. "Since we speak Western Armenian language, and people in Armenia use Eastern Armenian language. I am afraid that the problem will be solved only when the situation will be very complicated," said Grigor M.

According to businessman Grant Sh., the procedure of issuing entry visas at the checkpoints is the thing that has been eagerly awaited by Armenians of Syria.

"Of course, we meet great reception in Armenia. However, unfortunately, until the arrival and on the arrival we face a lot of challenges. And one of those problems was the fact that people had been waiting for the Armenian visas for 21 days at the Embassy in Damascus or at the Armenian Consulate in Aleppo. You understand that in terms of shooting, when many families want to leave Syria, that expectation causes even more stress," the businessman has emphasized.