Author: Greg Madatian

BY HAIG KAYSERIAN

“Populate or perish.”
– John Curtin (Prime Minister of Australia 1941-45)

Following the attack of Australia’s northern border during World War II, the Australian government sought to solve a critical matter. At the time, Prime Minister John Curtin pointed out that the country was in need of a significant population increase—with “security” as their primary motivator.

This recognition was something to consider for a leadership that was still fighting to protect a White Australia Policy. After deliberation, a target of 1% annual migration growth was established, and Arthur Calwell was appointed Minister of Immigration.

Calwell addressed the Parliament: “If Australians have learned one lesson from the Pacific War it is surely that we cannot continue to hold our island continent for ourselves and our descendants unless we greatly increase our numbers. We are about 7 million people and we hold 3 million square miles [7.7 million square kilometers] of this Earth surface…much development and settlement have yet to be undertaken. Our need to undertake it is urgent and imperative if we are to survive.”

Subsequent Prime Ministers, Ben Chifley and Robert Menzies continued to apply these targets and theories. They began incentivizing the arrival of skilled migrants from Britain, and later from the rest of (white) Europe.

The catch cry first coined during the Curtin years, “POPULATE OR PERISH” might seem an embellished threat, but the seriousness of the choice apparently at hand (death if no increase to population) defined Australia’s attitude in seriously committing to a migration program that saw the country rise to both a “defended” and a “developed” nation. Between 1948 and 1950, 500,000 people resettled in Australia, with hundreds of thousands more in the years that followed.

Most of these migrants came from places that promised less opportunity and less fortune than Australia. In those years, the modest accommodations and nauseating meals in camps were enough to attract people to the unknown, which would eventually become the “Australian Dream.”

What this all shows: Australia treated its population issue seriously. And it won.

What then for Armenia?

The borders of Armenia and Artsakh are currently well secured by the brave, well-trained soldiers. However, the most effective border security is a sustainable nation, with a growing and thriving population.

Armenia’s security, thereby its economic and social development, is sponsored by its people. Therefore, the more of these people it has, the more it can develop.

Thus, Armenia must address its population challenges with the same vigor, and even embellishment that Australia used during WWII. Armenia must adopt a “populate or perish” attitude, first and foremost targeting its Diaspora; while simultaneously attempting to reach individuals with integral skills that will help accelerate the nation’s development.

Seven Considerations Below:

1. As part of a greater migration initiative, Armenia is in serious need of a repatriation program—even if it takes a declaration that the issue of population growth is a matter of national emergency. Such “embellishment,” or exaggeration, may be essential to snap this issue from the “peripheries” to the “front-and-center.”
2. This program needs to offer tangible benefits for potential repatriates. Something that is in line with the times (and something much better than what was reactively offered to Syrian Armenians after the 2011 Syrian War, as evidenced by more of them leaving Armenia for “greener pastures,” rather than staying “home”).
3. This program needs to be realistic. By targeting Diasporans who are living in countries where conditions would be enhanced by Armenia’s repatriation offering. For example, recognizing that Armenians living in Middle Eastern countries may have more limited freedoms and job prospects. They will be more likely to repatriate more quickly than those living in the United States, Canada or Australia. That is, they will be more enticed by offerings such as free (but modest) accommodations, tax reliefs, guaranteed minimum incomes in jobs, free education for their kids, and so on.
4. This program needs to have ambitious annual targets of migration, ensuring the program’s accountability, as well as the accountability of its implementers.
5. The broader migration program also needs to go beyond repatriation. It needs to allow for a percentage of non-Armenian migrants possessing required skills that would help develop the country’s economy.
6. This program needs to impose a “minimum stay” period (of a few years) for those who migrate before being allowed to move elsewhere. Individuals need to be bound by clear conditions for receipt of benefits and welfare (e.g. children of school age must be enrolled in school, migrants must learn the Armenian language, etc.). This will enforce a proper opportunity for migrants and migrant families to integrate fully into Armenian society.
7. This program must pave a clear path to fulfill citizenship, with rights to vote, that will ensure migrants are vested in the nations building of the Republic.

“Populate or perish” might sound exaggerated, as it probably did in Curtin’s Australia. However, it is perfect as a guiding slogan for Armenia’s required attitude to address the issue of population growth through repatriation and skill acquisition.

After all, “populate or perish” is all about attitude.

Haig Kayserian is the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia, with a Bachelors in Media & Cultural Studies (Macquarie University) and is currently completing his Masters in Politics & Policy (Deakin University). He is a Director at several technology companies based in the United States and Australia, and is an Advisory Board member at Armenia’s first technology venture capital firm.

Participants Mark 15th Anniversary of Axe-Murder of Gurgen Margaryan 

WASHINGTON—Greater Washington DC community members joined the Armenian Youth Federation at the Azerbaijani Embassy demanding justice for the Sumgait, Kirovabad, Baku and Maragha pogroms from 1988-1992, and raising their voices in support of freedom and security for the independent Republic of Artsakh.

“We join communities around the world in commemorating the massacres against the Armenian populations of Sumgait, Kirovabad, Baku, and Maragha and standing strong with the people of the independent Republic of Artsakh in their quest for a lasting peace,” said AYF-YOARF Washington D.C. “Ani” Chapter chairwoman Galin Tanashian. “Our protest today is part of ongoing political action – in Congress, in state capitols and local communities – to strengthen U.S. – Artsakh ties and ensure the long-term safety and security of the Republic.”

This year’s protest also marked the 15th anniversary of the axe-murder and decapitation of 26-year-old Armenian serviceman Gurgen Margaryan, killed in his sleep on February 19, 2004, by Azerbaijani soldier Ramil Safarov during a NATO language-training exercise in Hungary. After serving only a fraction of his sentence in Hungary, Safarov was extradited to Azerbaijan in 2012, where he was immediately pardoned, promoted and praised by the Azerbaijani people and government. Today, Safarov is considered a national hero by his countrymen, while Armenians still mourn Margaryan’s murder.

Protesters expressed concern about increasing pressure on the Republics of Armenia and Artsakh to support the flawed Madrid Principles, which call for the surrender of lands for paper promises of a future “_expression_ of will” which regarding the status of Artsakh.  Greater Washington DC Armenian community members were loud and clear in their message that the only pathway to long-term peace is one which respects the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh. Children proudly waved Artsakh flags and held signs supporting our fellow Armenians who struggle every day to protect and defend the land.

Following the vigil, Fr. Sarkis Aktavoukian of Soorp Khatch Armenian Apostolic Church led the D.C. community members in prayer in memory of Gurgen Margaryan, the victims of the Baku, Sumgait, Kirovabad and Maragha massacres and all those who lost their lives during the Artsakh liberation movement.

The protest was streamed live by the Voice of America Armenian Service as well as the AYF Ani chapter and ANCA Facebook pages and covered by H1 Television.

From 1988 to 1990, the Armenian population in Soviet Azerbaijan was the target of racially motivated pogroms against Armenians in the cities of Sumgait (February 27-29, 1988), Kirovabad (November 21-27, 1988, Baku (January 13-19, 1990) and Maragha (April 10, 1992).

These pogroms set the stage for two decades of aggression by Azerbaijan, during which it launched and lost a war against Nagorno Karabakh, and later used its oil wealth to buy a massive military arsenal that its leaders, to this day, vow to use to renew their attempts to conquer a Christian people that has lived on these lands for thousands of years and, after great challenges, has flourished in freedom from Soviet oppression for more than 25 years.