“For many, there is no future in Armenia. The motherland is best loved from afar, they say.”
Or is it?
Ianyan is starting a database of the ins and outs of what it means to live in Armenia. If you have something to add, email editorial@ianyanmag.com.
Diasporans are always longing for their homeland. They write songs about it, fantasize and romanticize, organize events around it and hang paintings of Ararat in their cushy homes in Los Angeles, Boston and Montreal. “Mer Hayrenik” they sing. “Our Fatherland.” Yet it seems those in “Our Fatherland” are doing whatever they can to quite literally escape. Armenia is hemorrhaging citizens. More Armenians live outside of the country than in. People are hoping to leave any which way they can. In fact, as many as 60 residents a day apply to a company that arranges permanent residency in Russia, according to this recent Hetq article, Russia Baits the Hook: Armenians Leave for the “Promised Land.”