Category: 2019

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.

New Armenian Genocide Resolution Locks-In Official Recognition, Rejects Turkey’s Denial, Encourages Public Education. Representatives Schiff and Bilirakis joined by over 70 U.S. House Colleagues in Launching New ANCA-Backed Bipartisan Resolution

WASHINGTON—On the eve of the Capitol Hill Armenian Genocide Observance, Congressmen Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) on Monday were joined by more than 70 of their U.S. House colleagues in introducing a new Armenian Genocide Resolution aimed at establishing, as a matter of U.S. policy, 1) the rejection of Armenian Genocide denial, 2) ongoing official U.S. government recognition and remembrance of this crime, and 3) the importance of education about the Armenian Genocide in preventing modern-day atrocities, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“All who oppose genocide welcome today’s launch of legislation locking-in U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide and – once and for all – locking-out Turkish denials of this crime,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “This bipartisan measure – spearheaded by Representatives Adam Schiff and Gus Bilirakis – also permanently locks down – as official U.S. policy – that future generations should be educated about the facts of this crime, America’s noble relief efforts for its victims, and – most urgently – the relevance of the Armenian Genocide to modern-day crimes against humanity.”

Rep. Schiff highlighted the genocide prevention role of the legislation. “Over 100 years ago, the Ottoman Empire undertook a brutal campaign of murder, rape, and displacement against the Armenian people that took the lives of 1.5 million men, women, and children in the first genocide of the 20th century,” said Rep. Schiff. “Genocide is not a relic of the past, but an ever present threat. Its denial is not only a continuing injury to the survivors, but makes its repetition against another people more likely. It is therefore all the more pressing that the Congress recognize the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide and make clear that we will never be an accomplice to denial.”

Republican lead sponsor Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), explained, “Genocide must not be denied. It must be acknowledged for what it is—a scourge on humanity. Official recognition of the Armenian Genocide would represent a courageous new chapter in American foreign policy. With the bold leadership of the current Administration, it is time for the United States to take a stand against Turkish genocide denial.”

Joining Representatives Schiff and Bilirakis as original cosponsors of the measure are Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Appropriations Committee Chair Nita Lowey (D-NY), Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Ethics Committee Chair Ted Deutch (D-FL), Natural Resources Committee Chair Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Mark Takano (D-CA), Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal (D-MA), House Select Committee on Intelligence Ranking Republican Devin Nunes (R-CA), Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Co-Chairs Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ), and Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Gil Cisneros (D-CA), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Lou Correa (D-CA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Joe Courtney (D-CT), TJ Cox (D-CA), Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), John Garamendi (D-CA), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Josh Harder (D-CA), Kevin Hern (R-OK), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Peter King (R-NY), Steve King (R-IA), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), James Langevin (D-RI), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Andy Levin (D-MI), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Daniel Lipinski (D-IL), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Grace Meng (D-NY), Joseph Morelle (D-NY), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Edwin Perlmutter (D-CO), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Ross Spano (R-FL), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Dina Titus (D-NV), Paul Tonko (D-NY), Lori Trahan (D-MA), Juan Vargas (D-CA), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).

Additional original cosponsors may be added before the end of the day and will be updated on the ANCA website at: st1yle=”margin:0px 0px 10px”>In a “Dear Colleague” letter sent to U.S. Representatives by Congressmen Schiff and Bilirakis in early April, Congressmen Schiff and Bilirakis took on Ankara’s anticipated opposition to an honest U.S. remembrance of the Armenian Genocide head-on, writing: “Let us be direct. Genocide recognition is opposed by a single entity: The government of Turkey. For decades, Turkey has deployed threats and an intense campaign of lobbying to intimidate the Congress from recognizing the genocide carried out by the Ottoman Empire.” They went on to argue that: “Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide is also a source of continued regional tension, undermining the foundations of a durable peace that would be in the best interests of the United States and our national security. Official recognition of the Armenian Genocide can help open a new chapter in United States foreign policy. It is time for the United States to take a stand for the truth, and against genocide denial.”

The Armenian Genocide Resolution notes that the U.S. has, as early as 1951, officially recognized the Armenian Genocide through a filing with the International Court of Justice, followed by House legislation adopted in 1975, and 1984 and President Ronald Reagan’s Proclamation in 1984.

The resolution resolves that it is the policy of the United States to:

1. Commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance;
2. Reject efforts to enlist, engage, or otherwise associate the U.S. Government with denial of the Armenian Genocide or any other genocide; and
3. Encourage education and public understanding of the facts of the Armenian Genocide, including the U.S. role in the humanitarian relief effort, and the relevance of the Armenian Genocide to modern-day crimes against humanity.

The full Text of the Resolution is provided below.

Armenian Genocide Resolution Text – 116th Congress

116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H.RES. ___

Affirming the United States record on the Armenian Genocide.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Mr. SCHIFF submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on__________

RESOLUTION

Affirming the United States record on the Armenian Genocide.

Whereas the United States has a proud history of recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide, the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, and providing relief to the survivors of the campaign of genocide against Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Arameans, Maronites, and other Christians;

Whereas the Honorable Henry Morgenthau, United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1916, organized and led protests by officials of many countries against what he described as the empire’s ‘‘campaign of race extermination’’, and was instructed on July 16, 1915, by United States Secretary of State Robert Lansing that the ‘‘Department approves your procedure . . . to stop Armenian persecution’’;

Whereas President Woodrow Wilson encouraged the formation of the Near East Relief, chartered by an Act of Congress, which raised $116,000,000 (over $2,500,000,000 in 2019 dollars) between 1915 and 1930, and the Senate adopted resolutions condemning these massacres;

Whereas Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term ‘‘genocide’’ in 1944, and who was the earliest proponent of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, invoked the Armenian case as a definitive example of genocide in the 20th century;

Whereas as displayed in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Adolf Hitler, on ordering his military commanders to attack Poland without provocation in 1939, dismissed objections by saying ‘‘[w]ho, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?’’, setting the stage for the Holocaust;

Whereas the United States has officially recognized the Armenian Genocide, through the United States Government’s May 28, 1951, written statement to the International Court of Justice regarding the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, through President Ronald Reagan’s Proclamation No. 4838 on April 22, 1981, and by House Joint Resolution 148, adopted on April 8, 1975, and House Joint Resolution 247, adopted on September 10, 1984; and

Whereas the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–441) establishes that atrocities prevention represents a United States national interest, and affirms that it is the policy of the United States to pursue a United States Government-wide strategy to identify, prevent, and respond to the risk of atrocities by ‘‘strengthening diplomatic response and the effective use of foreign assistance to support appropriate transitional justice measures, including criminal accountability, for past atrocities’’: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that it is the policy of the United States to—

(1) commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance;

(2) reject efforts to enlist, engage, or otherwise associate the United States Government with denial of the Armenian Genocide or any other genocide; and

(3) encourage education and public understanding of the facts of the Armenian Genocide, including the United States role in the humanitarian relief effort, and the relevance of the Armenian Genocide to modern-day crimes against humanity.

LOS ANGELES—After the 113 to 109 Los Angeles Lakers victory over the Utah Jazz on April 7, fans exited the Staples Center to find a group of Armenian Youth Federation activists staging a “die-in” demonstration to raise awareness of the Armenian Genocide.

AYF members were silently sitting or lying on the ground just outside the Staples Center as thousands of attendees witnessed and held signs that brought attention to the issue of the Armenian Genocide. “We are here to educate the community of the atrocities perpetrated by Turkey during the first genocide of the 20th century, and to inform the public that proper justice, in form of restitution and reparation, has not been restored for the Armenian people,” stated Hakop Hajibekyan, co-chairperson of the AYF’s Hye Tad Committee.

Along with raising awareness, demanding restitution, and calling for reparations, the AYF has been working to advocate for the divestment of over $70 million of University of California (UC) funds from the government of Turkey. Since the movement’s inception, the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region also began working to divest over $500 million of California State funds from the government of Turkey, to ensure that taxpayer funds are no longer used to propagate Turkey’s denialist propaganda. The movement regained momentum last week after a meeting was held within the State Assembly over the new Divestment bill, AB1320.

The AYF’s next show of activism will be at the annual March for Justice, which will take place on Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. outside the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles (6300 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90048). The March for Justice is hosted by the Armenian Genocide Committee (AGC), which is made up of representatives of over 20 Armenian organizations and includes over 40 coalition partners that fight for justice and against the denial of the Armenian Genocide. The AGC calls on all community members to unite in show of solidarity and collective strength at the 2019 March for Justice.

Founded in 1933 with organizational structures in over 17 regions around the world and a legacy of over eighty years of community involvement, the Armenian Youth Federation is the largest and most influential Armenian-American youth organization in the world, working to advance the social, political, educational, and cultural awareness of Armenian youth.