Open news feed Close news feed
A A

Iranian citizen asks for asylum from Armenia to become Christian (video)

Social
paxstakan

Oskov Bijak does not like to speak about the reasons of leaving his homeland Iran and asking for asylum in Armenia. It was 15 years ago when he came to Armenia and today he has Armenian citizenship. Oskov Bijak has already adopted Christianity in Armenia. He went to the Armenian Church in Persia, too. "In Iran, I was secretly going [to church,] I did not want anyone to know. The churches were open only on Sundays. " He spends the most of the day at the Avetik Isahakyan Library, mostly reading English books, although he knows several languages: Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish. He has learned Armenian in Armenia. From time to time he helps the Iranian tourists organize their holidays in Armenia. That is how he earns money. He has no permanent job yet. "You should know or have a friend or relative to get a job." A lot has changed in Armenia over the past 15 years. "Now it is not like it was [in the past,] there are changes, I pray that people do not go elsewhere and stay in Armenia."

The average number of asylum seekers in Armenia is about 80-100 per year, says Petros Aghababyan, head of the Department of Asylum Affairs of the State Migration Service. "In 2017, 151 foreign nationals have applied for refugee status, of which 99 are already using the support of the Republic of Armenia." Are people able to find enough livelihood opportunities and adapt to a new environment, after obtaining a refugee status? "Except for political rights, they [refugees] have equal rights with RA citizens, both in social and educational issues." By the way, according to the UN, refugees in Armenia are the poorest in the society.

Armenian / Russian