Refusal of embassies to provide entry visas to Artsakh residents  violates Convention relating to Status of Refugees

ArmInfo.he refusal of a number of embassies to provide entry visas to Artsakh residents violates the  provisions of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, reads a statement by Artsakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan.

He recalled that in recent days, many Artsakh residents have raised  the issue that the embassies of a number of countries accredited in  the Republic of Armenia (mostly European) refuse to process  applications from Artsakh residents for an entry visa, in particular,  to persons holding a passport with code 070.

"According to published information, the refusal of the embassies is  explained by the fact that, based on information published by the  authorities of the Republic of Armenia (RA), the embassy assumes that  a passport with code 070 is in fact not considered a document  confirming Armenian citizenship. If citizenship is not clearly  confirmed by the passport, it is impossible to accept or process the  application.

This explanation of the embassies is extremely incomprehensible and  condemnable, because if the embassies are guided by the statements of  the RA authorities and note that from the statements of the RA  authorities it is assumed that a passport with code 070 is in fact  not considered a document certifying Armenian citizenship, then why  do they ignore the fact that from those Does it follow from the  statements of the RA authorities that a passport with code 070 was  provided to Artsakh residents as a travel document?  Moreover, by the  decision of the RA government of October 26, 2023 "On approval of the  description of the identity document of a refugee who has received  temporary protection and the procedure for its provision" for taking  under temporary protection persons forcibly displaced from  Nagorno-Karabakh, a passport with code 070 was recognized as a  document , identifying a refugee, and it has been established that  outside the territory of the Republic of Armenia it is valid when  used together with a refugee ID.

Article 28 of the Refugee Convention enshrines the refugee's right to  free movement, noting in particular that "Contracting States shall  issue to refugees lawfully residing in their territory travel  documents for travel outside their territory", which are recognized  and accepted by the Contracting States. states.   In fact, even if  embassies do not consider RA code 070 passports as such, passports  with RA code 070 recognized by the RA authorities as a travel  document should be accepted by embassies as such, and no obstacles  should be created to the exercise of the right to free movement  enshrined in the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.

A number of embassies accredited in the Republic of Armenia (for  example, the USA) do not create any problems in this matter and  process visa applications for passports with code 070 without any  obstacles, considering them as a document confirming the citizenship  of the Republic of Armenia.

I draw the attention of the embassies accredited to Armenia to the  above-mentioned problem and expect a review of their approaches to  this issue in order to guarantee proper and full respect and  protection of the rights established by the Convention relating to  the Status of Refugees," the Artsakh Ombudsman emphasized.