Armenian Refugees in Aleppo: Humanitarian Efforts and Survival Strategies: 1915-1930

In: Chronos: revue d'histoire de l'Université de Balamand, Band 19, S. 33-56

Abstract

This article is an overview study of the international humanitarian response to the refugee crisis between 1915 and 1930 when Syria, and particularly the city of Aleppo, became home to tens of thousands of Armenian refugee survivors forcibly deported during the genocidal program implemented and carried out against the Ottoman Armenians by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) government in Constantinople. The objective of this article is threefold: the first is to determine the policies of the various governments of Syria between 1915 and 1930 towards the Armenian refugee population; the second is to examine the humanitarian efforts of international bodies, such as the League of Nations, the International Red Cross and the Near East Relief Society, to provide assistance to refugees; and the third is to identify the strategies refugees employed to ensure survival and to try to rebuild familial and communal ties.