REPORT On Activities of Migration Service in 2018 (by sectors)
Implementation of Migration Policy
In 2018 the Migration Service of the Republic of Armenia Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development mainly focused its efforts on the implementation of activities included in the Action Plan for effective implementation of the Republic of Armenia 2017-2021 Migration Strategy was approved on August 31, 2017 by the government protocol decision No.37. Four meetings of the program monitoring commission were held in 2018. On October 19, 2017 the Republic of Armenia Government approved the structure and indicators of the Republic of Armenia extended migration profile. Public authorities included in the list of indictors of the extended migration profile have submitted to the Service the Republic of Armenia extended migration profile indicators for 2017. The analytical part of the Republic of Armenia extended migration profile was drafted by international experts supported by the ICMPD. The Service will prepare and publish the Republic of Armenia extended migration profile once every 3 years starting in 2019. The “Migration Bulletin” issues No. 20, Special Edition, and Nos. 21 and 22 were published quarterly.
System for Granting Asylum to Foreign Citizens
In 2019, 213 foreigners have requested the Migration Service to grant them asylum in Armenia with the majority of applications received from the Islamic Republic of Iran – 59, Iraq – 55, Syria – 24, Yemen – 17, Afghanistan – 12, Bangladesh – 10 and Ukraine – 10. The refugee status and the asylum were granted to 73 applicants. Accommodation was provided to 104 persons, including 74 asylum seekers were placed in the “Special Shelter” state nonprofit organization, 22 persons with refugee status in dormitories managed by the Service and 8 in social homes. Asylum seeker plastic ID cards with a protection layer were printed and issued to 471 asylum seekers. Other 25 asylum seeker foreigners, who were not accommodated at the “Special Shelter” SNPO, received financial assistance for apartment rent following the procedure prescribed in the Armenian legislation. Around 200 asylum seekers were provided translation and interpretation services. Twelve activities on the Enhancing the International Protection System in the Action Plan for effective implementation of the Republic of Armenia 2017-2021 Migration Strategy was approved on August 31, 2017 by the government protocol decision No.37. were implemented, including: As a result of comparative legal analysis of the Republic of Armenia Law On Refugees and Asylum and the Republic of Armenia Administrative Procedure Code carried out to harmonize the deadline for appealing negative decisions on asylum applications adopted by the competent authority with the deadline set by the Republic of Armenia Administrative Procedure Code for submitting the claim to the court, a draft law on amendments in the Republic of Armenia Law On Refugees and Asylum was developed. A review of the European and international best practices was done to harmonize the application form for asylum in Armenia submitted by foreign citizens and stateless persons to the European standards, which resulted in draft decree of the Republic of Armenia Government on amending the Republic of Armenia Decree No. 232-N of March 7, 2003 and the Republic of Armenia Decree No. 286-N of March 25, 2010. Voluntary return of 4 citizens of Bangladesh seeking asylum in Armenia to the homeland was organized in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration. Inception training course for new staff of the border troops of the Republic of Armenia National Security Service on international protection was developed and presented to the Republic of Armenia National Security Service to be incorporated into the inception training program conducted for new staff of the border troops of the Republic of Armenia National Security Service.
Problems of Persons Forcibly Displaced from the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1988-1992
The RoA Government decree No. 747-N dated May 20, 2004 has approved a priority housing program for persons forcibly displaced from the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1988-1992. The government budget for 2005-2008 had earmarked relevant amounts for the implementation of this program, 1,065 families were issued vouchers to purchase apartments and 718 of them used those vouchers to buy apartments. The number of refugee families that currently meet the eligibility criteria set by the program and have urgent need for housing is 895, including 641 in Yerevan and 254 in provinces. No amounts were earmarked for the program in the government budget since 2009. According to estimates the amount needed to address the problem is AMD 9 billion. In 2008 the Republic of Armenia MTAD MS has received 57 applications to get a dormitory room. The commission established on September 24, 2015 by the Decree No. 985- A of the Republic of Armenia Minister of Territorial Administration to facilitate the process of referrals for accommodation of refugees in the dormitories held one meeting and allocated 2 dormitory rooms. Pursuant to the RoA Minister of Territorial Administration and Development Decree No. 21-L dated October 3, 2018, a new commission was established in the Service to accommodate refugees in dormitories and nonresidential areas. In November and December 2018 this commission had 3 meetings; 3 families were allocated nonresidential spaces in the dormitories managed by the Republic of Armenia MTAD MS to turn them into living space and 5 families received new referrals. In 2018 the joint commission of the Republic of Armenia MTAD MS and the UNHCR office in Armenia on allocation of apartments held 8 meetings and 9 persons were accommodated in the integration center, 2 families received social apartments in the former agricultural college’s building in Darbnik community in Ararat province. In 2018 the Service provided status verification letters to 425 individuals to present to relevant police stations for either obtaining convention travel document or extending its validity. In 6 dormitories operated by the “Dormitories” SNPO of the Migration Service there are 692 families with 1,626 members accommodated in 832 rooms. There are 480 refugee and 212 local families. In 2018 five families of persons forcibly displaced from Azerbaijan in 1988- 1992 residing in dormitories operated by the “Dormitories” SNPO of the Migration Service as well as dormitories at the disposal of government budgetary institutions have privatized 7 rooms. In general, the Integration Issues Division of the Migration Service issued 22 certificates to facilitate the privatization process foreseen in the legislation. Roughly 310 inquiries about the Armenian passport holders or applicants for the stateless person document were received in 2018 from the Republic of Armenia Passport and Visa Department or its territorial passport offices. In 2018 the Service responded to 5 inquiries from the Republic of Armenia Ministry of Defense and 39 inquiries from lawyers.
Integration of Persons Granted Refugee Status and Asylum and Long-Term Immigrants in Armenia By its protocol resolution No. 8 dated February 23, 2017 the RoA Government approved the action plan for implementation of the Concept Paper on Policy for Integration of Persons Granted Refugee Status and Asylum and Long-Term Immigrants in Armenia endorsed by the protocol resolution No. 28 dated July 21, 2016. Generally, the above documents set forth 3 main actions for integration of persons granted refugee status and asylum and long-term immigrants in Armenia: Organization of Armenian language courses; Organization of civic orientation courses; Provision of a temporary shelter. In 2018 the Armenian language courses organized by the Armenian General Benevolent Union’s Virtual College were attended by 30 refugees. The objective of civic orientation courses is to enhance the immigrants’ knowledge about the values and culture of host society as well as to provide information about their rights, obligations and possibilities. The duration is 30 hours. This year two groups of participants (11 people) have completed the course. The courses were organized by the Yerevan State University in the framework of the public procurement contract No. 18/13 for “Provision of personal development training services for the government needs” concluded between the Migration Service of the Republic of Armenia MTAD and the “Yerevan State University” Foundation on July 4, 2018. Provision of a temporary shelter is the third main component of the integration concept and only those granted a refugee status in Armenia can benefit from the shelter. The temporary shelter is provided by accommodating in available social apartments as well as giving money for apartment rent. This year the Service had a positive decision about financial assistance for apartment rent in 28 cases. The compensation is equal to 60,000 Armenian drams for 9 months. In fact, starting 2018 the programs for social integration of new refugees are financed from the Republic of Armenia government budget with an annual allocation of more than 18 million Armenian drams.
Review of the Entry Ban to Russian Federation The efforts to review the entry ban to RF for Armenian nationals were ongoing since June 2014. Based on the agreement reached with the Federal Migration Service of Russia, in 2018 the Migration Service continued collecting and sending applications and related documents from the Armenian nationals to the General Department on Migration Issues of the Russian Ministry of Interior to lift their entry ban to the RF. After reviewing the documents the General Department made decisions on either lifting or upholding the ban. In 2018 the Migration Service communicated to the General Department on Migration Issues of the Russian Ministry of Interior 234 applications and received 200 responses. A positive response was given in 18 cases or 9 percent of all responses received. Out of all rejected cases, 57 applications related to cases of expulsion from the RF based on the court order. Enhancing Intergovernmental Relations on Migration Issues
The Migration Service of the Republic of Armenia MTAD prepared documents required for the Second high-level meeting on Mobility Partnership between the Republic of Armenia and the EU on January 23, 2018 in Brussels and the fourth meeting of the Joint Readmission Committee on implementation of the Agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the EU the Readmission of Persons Residing without Authorisation on January 24, 2018. Representatives of the EU member states highly appreciated the readmission efforts of the Armenian counterparts. On February 22, 2018, the Migration Service of the Republic of Armenia MTAD signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the French-Armenian Development Foundation. In the scope of this Memorandum, the French-Armenian Development Foundation through its “Single Window” service will provide information on reintegration issues of migrants returning to Armenia, projects implemented thereof, entities involved as well as types of assistance provided. Pursuant to the item 3.1.b.1 in the Action Plan ensuring the effective implementation of the Republic of Armenia 2017-2021 Migration Strategy and for effective implementation of return and reintegration processes in Armenia, a Return and Reintegration Forum was established to facilitate discussions of problems and programs in this field, share lessons learnt, disseminate information and carry out other functions. In 2018 the Forum held three meetings (on March 27, July 24 and November 8, 2018) to discuss issues related to return and reintegration in Armenia, ways to address the problems and government policies in this field. On May 17 the EU-Armenia Justice, Freedom and Security Subcommittee held its 9th meeting. Discussion points on migration and mobility were prepared for the meeting. Cooperation is established with the EU European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX). An agreement was reached that the FRONTEX will conduct capacity building trainings for the Migration Service staff involved in return and readmission. On November 8, 2018, the European Return and Reintegration Network (ERRIN) Armenia project was launched. It is funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) of the European Union. The overall aim of the project is two-fold: firstly to build capacity of Armenia in managing migration, and secondly, to provide socio-economic reintegration assistance to Armenian nationals who return voluntarily or involuntarily from the EU member states. An implementation protocol for the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Armenia on the Readmission of Persons Residing without Authorisation has been signed between the Republic of Armenia and the Benelux countries (Kingdom of Belgium, Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Great Duchy of Luxembourg). The final version of the implementation protocol for the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Armenia on the Readmission of Persons Residing without Authorisation between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Bulgaria has been sent to the Republic of Armenia Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Brief information on the implementation of the readmission agreement is presented in the table below:
Readmission requests by countries, 2018
Country sending Number of Number of Number of persons Number of persons % of positive readmission request request persons in with confirmed with unconfirmed responses received readmission citizenship citizenship requests a) EU member 989 1995 1670 333 83.37% states 1 Austria 73 182 116 66 63.74% 2 Belgium 21 44 43 3 93.48% 3 Bulgaria 3 3 1 1 50.00% 4 France 98 126 110 12 90.16% 5 Germany 681 1385 1211 189 86.50% 6 Netherlands 53 139 109 32 77.30% 7 Poland 23 38 30 3 90.91% 8 Sweden 37 78 50 27 64.94% b) EAEU member 41 50 34 11 75.56% states 1 Russian Federation 41 50 34 11 75.56% Total 1030 2045 1704 344 83.20%