Epress.am News from Armenia
At Châlons-en-Champagne, the capital of the region of Champagne-Ardenne in France, families are Armenian, but Muslim. But it is not good to be Muslim in Armenia, a predominantly Christian country, writes Tony Verbicaro in L’hebdo du vendredi.
In 2009, the author continues, famous Armenian historian Tamara Vartanian explained that “the Armenian nation is founded on the Christian cultural heritage and the term ‘Islamicized Armenians’ is inconsistent with the values of the nation.” And the Armenian public opinion generally agrees with this “statement.” We will write here neither the history of religions and cohabitation difficult in this region of the world nor try to determine who is right or wrong. Simply put, Muslim families that arrived to Châlons left their country, Armenia, because they were persecuted. This “small” persecution of daily life, where one has to overcome the markets to work, where one must bribe an employer or the authorities, where one does not speak of his religion at school, where men try to avoid getting too close to the militia which might enlist him to go to war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
One Châlons family lived a classic history of a mixed Christian-Muslim couple. Here, at home, the father of one spouse killed the father of another. Among other persecutions was theft, executed by law enforcement agencies or not, of identity papers, including the famous passport inherited from the Soviet Union that allowed any resident of the former USSR to move about the entire Soviet territory. And work too, because today, in Armenia as in Europe, we need papers to work. With the blow of suffering these “small daily hassles,” because we have children form whom we want to offer a better future, we end up choosing to leave. For this, it takes money, of course, to pay the smugglers. Truck, road, avoid being arrested, especially in Poland where refugees often end up confined in camps, very, very large detention centers, even if we have at least religion in common. And arrive in France. A welcoming land, a land of human rights.
“In France, I thought it would be easier to live, to work,” said one migrant, “Finally, it was easier in Russia.” This family first left Armenia for Russia, where they spent 12 years. Until the obligation to leave again. They had no papers, as they were stolen in Armenia. No proof either to present to the OFPRA (the French office for the protection of refugees and stateless persons). Which makes their claim very complicated. The passage of time, even after wiping OFPRA’s refusal, the first time, and the CNDA (national center for filing and approval), allows families, aided by associations and lawyers, to get certain documents and testimonies sent to the country. Sometimes, it’s enough to change the decision at the second passage before the OFPRA.
All the time, waiting, unable to live a lawful life, the children, thanks to the action of Education Without Borders Network (RESF), can go to school, almost normally. The fifty or so active RESF members at Châlons know which school to send the kids. Thanks to school, the kids often speak French better than their parents, and they find themselves playing roles in places not meant for them, to list and repeat the stories of parent, not stories for children.
In addition to the administrative “exit” when the appeal period has expired is another problem, the school. Officially, the children, like their parents, can be deported. So we remain discreet. At school as the solutions found through local association to host families outside the facilities for asylum seekers. Deport? To where? Recently, Armenia joined the list of safe countries of origin. A list on which OFPRA itself draws. And so, nationals of safe countries — there are 14 now — do not qualify for asylum. Like the Roma, these families are offered a bit of money to leave “voluntarily.” They rarely choose to leave voluntarily.
This is far from the problem of the Armenian families in Châlons-en-Champagne. Armenia, for them, is not a safe country. And anyway, how to prove that they really come from Armenia since they don’t have the papers to prove it. Stateless persons, in legal limbo, who are not granted asylum, but who cannot return home.