'Our community of 1,200 was small'

Dubai: Sharjah-based businessman Bedros Arslanian left Ethiopia almost thirty years ago to settle in the UAE. "This is my home now, in a way," said the 72- year-old.

Back in the seventies, he says, there were under a hundred Armenians in the UAE, mostly concentrated in Abu Dhabi. "Some Armenians from Iran and Palestine have been in Abu Dhabi for more than fifty years."

Despite an Armenian presence in Ethiopia "for many centuries", Arslanian has been met with surprise from fellow diaspora Armenians upon telling them where he was from.

Community

"Our community in Ethiopia was small, of about 1,200, but we had been there for a long time," he said. Armenians integrated well in Ethiopia and were rewarded with high ranking government positions, but most have left now. "We have quality, not quantity."

Like many diaspora Armenians, Arslanian calls more than one place home, and Ethiopia is one of them. Fluent in Amharic, Arslanian was born and brought up in Ethiopia and often visits family there. "I have many memories there. Sometimes I feel like I belong there. I miss it," he says. The Republic of Armenia, which he visits every two months, is also home.

"After so many years, we've got our own country and our own national symbols, of which we are very proud." Although he doesn't feel the need to get Armenian citizenship, Arslanian says he might take it one day "for symbolic reasons."