Syrian-Armenian hairdresser leads hard life (video)
10 months and 1500 kilometers separate Aleppo Armenian Raffi Simonyan from his family, “They can come here, it isn’t a problem, but the problem is what they will do here, it’s difficult.” Raffi left his parents and three brothers with their families in Syria. It is hard for him to live in Armenia. “Eat, drink, rent for a house and shop, taxes; all these must be ensured first of all.” He looked for a job in Armenia for two months, but when he saw the booth available for rent near Republic Square Metro, he decided to start up his business. “We are in the tax field and will pay taxes, but when we asked the tax bodies to free us of taxes for 6 months, 1 year, they answered that they will think about and give an answer. For Armenia’s Government AMD 21 000 for 6 months isn’t large sum,” says Raffi. He doesn’t agree with other Syrian Armenians that the prices are high in Armenia. He states that the prices for food are normal, yet he cannot say the same about clothes. “Clothes are expensive here, as there in Syria we have manufacturing of clothes, but there isn’t such production in Armenia. For example, in China jeans trousers cost 4 dollars, 2500 drams, but when it reaches people in Armenia it becomes 8500-10000 drams. If Diaspora Armenians come here and open factories, trousers will be sold at 4 dollars like in China.” Raffi longs for his family and often meets with Aleppo Armenians. They meet after work around tea table. All the Syrian Armenians living in Armenia impatiently wait for news from Aleppo. He speaks to his brother and mother. “The situation is bad, there is no water, electricity, jobs.” Irrespective of the condition in Armenia, Raffi can see his future in Armenia. It is his dream, “In 1999 I visited Armenia, and then I decided to move here.” He also has another request from Armenian Government. Syrian Armenians mostly live in rented houses here. He asks the Government to give a chance to Syrian Armenians to obtain flats under favorable terms.
