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.