Civilnet
By Alexander Pracht
Armenia’s government this week intensified efforts to encourage refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh to apply for citizenship, following Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s recent address to the nation outlining his vision for their future in Armenia.
“Our understanding of the future of forced migrants from Karabakh is this: with our support and that of the international community, they must settle in the Republic of Armenia and live, create, and succeed here as full citizens,” Pashinyan said earlier this week.
Mobile units have been deployed across the country, allowing displaced Karabakh Armenians to submit citizenship applications directly on the street. The government also announced on Thursday that application fees will not apply to them. While the current fee is about $2.50, it is set to rise sharply to around $125 starting January 1.
Although many refugees are hesitant to apply out of concern that acquiring citizenship could affect their refugee status and benefits, authorities stress that citizenship is required to access state housing subsidy programs. Last month, the Interior Ministry reported that more than 9,000 people displaced by the September 2023 Azerbaijani offensive had already been granted citizenship. Their applications are being fast-tracked, and none have been rejected so far.
Armenia does not legally recognize former residents of Nagorno-Karabakh as its own nationals. Yerevan’s stance is that their passports with the 070 code that were issued for all Karabakh Armenians prior to 2023 only provided travel capabilities and did not automatically make them Armenian nationals.
This was upheld by a court ruling last November in Kassel, Germany, which declared Karabakh Armenians stateless persons and confirmed they cannot return to the region due to the risk of persecution from Azerbaijan.
The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh fled the region in September 2023 after a blockade that lasted more than nine months and was followed by a one-day offensive of the Azerbaijani military that resulted in Baku taking Nagorno-Karabakh under its full control and ethnically cleansing the breakaway region’s population.
Following the forced displacement, some Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians sought refuge outside Armenia, where they filed numerous applications for refugee status.
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