Indicators of Integration: Assessing the Impact of Perceptions about Rights and Security, Public Outcomes, and Social Connections on Intentions to Stay of Newcomers in Armenia

Abstract

This article explores the factors that influence intentions to stay in Armenia among different groups of young newcomers (aged 18–35), including ethnic Armenians displaced from Syria and Artsakh. As such, it contributes to a small body of literature on return migration to and integration in the Republic of Armenia. Drawing on a mixed methods study (surveys, focus groups, and interviews conducted across the country in 2021–2022), we found that most newcomers want to stay but face common challenges such as a lack of economic opportunities, some cultural differences, and the threat posed to Armenia's security. As analysis of Global North contexts dominate literature on integration, this article contributes to this broader literature by adapting Ager and Strang's (2008) widely-used indicators of integration framework to a much less secure or economically-favored post-Soviet, Global South context in which many newcomers share strong historical and cultural ties with the local population.1 Our results highlight the flexibility of this framework despite its Western European formulation, and emphasizes the need for in-depth and longitudinal exploration of local context (including the effects of Soviet history and structures and long experience of out-migration), and of the relative positions of newcomer and local communities.