By David Tereshchuk*

April 16, 2013—As Syria’s bloody fighting shows no imminent sign of ending, families who flee the conflict are in desperate need wherever they seek refuge.

And the neighboring countries that provide safe havens are inevitably getting more hard-pressed themselves.

20-03-2013 News Release 13/47

Geneva (ICRC) – Two Armenian civilians interned in Azerbaijan returned to Armenia today under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The man and the woman were placed in the care of Armenian officials on the road between the Azerbaijani town of Gazakh and the Armenian town of Ijevan, at the international border.

ICRC delegates had visited the civilians prior to their repatriation in order to assess their treatment and conditions of internment.

Risk is inclusive. Fourteen-year-old Margarita portrays a powerful message about disability in a video about disaster risk reduction.

By Chris Schuepp

GYUMRI, Armenia, 14 March 2013 – Margarita Sargsyan, 14, and her classmates at School #1 in Gyumri, the second biggest city of Armenia, are taking part in school lessons that might save their lives. They are learning about disaster risk reduction (DRR).

Like thousands of other Syrian Armenians, the Payazyan family fled its home in Syria to escape the nearly two-year long armed conflict. They arrived in Armenia seven months ago with hopes of returning home soon.

But as the fighting escalates, the family has had to stay on and try hard to adapt to the cramped housing conditions and cold weather. They are struggling to find the resources they need to buy food, clothing and other essential items required for survival.

Resettlement scheme angers Azerbaijan, which sees it as an obstruction to an eventual peace deal.

Some of the Armenians fleeing the conflict in Syria are being welcomed as settlers by the authorities Nagorny Karabakh.

Robert Matevosyan, head of the resettlement department at Nagorny Karabakh’s Kashatagh district government, says 25 families have moved there since the civil war started in Syria.

YEREVAN, Armenia — At the newly opened Cilician School in this former Soviet republic, the textbooks are in Arabic, photocopied from a single set flown out of war-torn Syria. The curriculum is Syrian, the flag on the principal’s desk is Syrian, and the teachers and students are all Syrians.

Read the full story on the New York Times.

The atmosphere in the stadium is tense; the crowd waiting for the referee’s whistle that will kick-off the final. Spectators waving Red Crescent flags and national flags watch the players in Red Crescent shirts on the pitch, all eyes on the ball. With elimination matches over, the last teams standing want to take the cup and go back to school in two days time as champions of the Red Crescent football tournament.

1. Brief description of the emergency and impact

The armed conflict in Syria has caused 1,2 million internally displaced people and 360,000 refugees who are seeking protection outside the country (OCHA 2 Nov. 2012). Some 7,000 Syrians fled to Armenia where 540 families were registered so far by the Ministry of Diaspora as “families in need”. 90 families have filed refugee claims with the responsible State authorities, but in the majority of cases the arriving Syrian Armenians do not register by any entity as they consider Armenia their home country.

Natural disasters, including drought, earthquakes, floods, and wildfires, as well as ongoing complex emergencies and limited government capacity in the region, present significant challenges to vulnerable populations in Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia (EMCA). Between Fiscal Year (FY) 2003 and FY 2012, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) and USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) provided assistance in response to a range of disasters, including floods, wildfires, winter emergencies, and complex crises.