Testimonies from frontline workers and community members caring for vulnerable refugees in Armenia

Julietta Shahbazyan: “I don't see well and I have hearing problems. I used to have a hearing aid but I stood on it and it broke. I am 85 and my great-grandson is 1 year old. It is so sad that we were displaced at our ages.”

With winter approaching, and the possibility of harsh weather conditions towards the end of 2023 and at the beginning of 2024, access to winter-specific assistance is particularly challenging for vulnerable groups.

Zoya Grigoryan, 71: “I brought my birds from home because I felt very sorry for them. I came here with my family. Nothing is better than our home, but we are thankful that people here are protecting and taking care of us.”

Many refugees who arrived in Armenia are vulnerable. This includes older people, women and children, pregnant women, people living with disabilities and those with chronic health conditions, as well as new-borns.

Karine Harutyunyan is a former kindergarten director in Artashat. The facility where she once taught has been repurposed into temporary accommodation for more than 70 people who arrived there at the end of September.

She is lovingly known as “Mama Karine” by the families under her care.

Karine epitomizes the importance of the host community in supporting the refugee response. In Armenia, this is characterized by a spirit of solidarity and unwavering generosity, with families and communities opening their doors to refugees.

“These are my people; they are tough people, and they really need your help. Honestly speaking, we feel a little bit tired and exhausted, but it doesn’t matter because we love them a lot and we treat them very warmly, and they feel that they are surrounded by love.”

The mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) needs of refugees are acute as sudden displacement and prolonged isolation has had a profound impact on them.

The extent of the emergency and the added demand caused by the arrivals meant that a substantial scale-up of services was required.

Gohar Gyurjyan (right) is a social worker and a refugee who joined a WHO-supported MHPSS mobile team to meet with refugees who had recently arrived from the Karabakh region.

“Hearing their pain while I am carrying mine is hard for me. But because I am one of them, because I come from the same place as them, this helps improve my ability to communicate with them. They see that I am in the same situation as they are, and together we try to find a way to move forward. They have come to understand that they’re not alone, that there’s a lot of people in the same situation. With a little help from the outside, everybody here can move on, ready to work to start creating and improving their lives. Nobody is hopeless.”

Marietta Khurshudyan is a clinical psychologist and technical expert working with WHO’s Country Office in Armenia.

She has been leading the work to scale-up mental health and psychosocial support for Armenian refugees, hand in hand with the Armenian Ministry of Health and local implementing partners.

“Whether one is dealing with acute stress, trauma, depression or some other mental health issue, one might feel overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness. In some cases, that helplessness is accompanied by feelings of intense shame, guilt, self-loathing or even suicidal thoughts. It’s important to remember that this pain is temporary and can be treated.”

Sisters Emmy (left) and Maria Margaryan are waiting for a health check in Dilijan’s primary health centre. Emmy is experiencing some abdominal pain, so her mother Anush brought her for a check-up.

“Emmy and my son Tigran are stressed,” Anush explained. “I enrolled them at the local school in the village where we are staying so that they can be busy and get away from the stress. When the shooting began, all of us ran to the school, where the shelter was, and all the children were there. The children were very scared, they were crying. We heard of one kid who had a heart attack out of fear.”

Lilit Kyureghyan is a cardiologist and a general practitioner in Dilijan. She has been participating in mobile clinics in order to reach newly arrived refugees, assess their health needs and refer them to the clinic if necessary.

“It is hard. The first time I visited them I left crying. People would share their stories with us. There is a man who had fled with his two daughters. He had to leave them at the orphanage and now is here [at the shelter] alone. And each story is a tragedy, it is very hard. But we do our work like before, without distinction.”

Since September 2023, WHO has been supporting the Ministry of Health of Armenia with the Armenian refugee health response through the WHO Country Office in Armenia and WHO/Europe.

WHO has launched an Emergency Donor Appeal for Armenia for a total of US$ 2.9 million for a 6-month period through to February 2024. As winter fast approaches, and health needs become more acute, the need to ramp up the humanitarian response becomes more urgent.