STATEMENT
by Armen Ghazaryan, Head of Migration Service of Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development of the Republic of Armenia
at the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration
Morocco, 10-11 December
Madam president,
Excellencies,
Dear colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me to start thanking the host country of Marocco for organization of this important event.
Back in 2016 in New York the UN General Assembly held a high-level meeting and adopted a Declaration addressing the issues of large movements of refugees and migrants, which indicated the growing prominence of this issue on the global agenda. Armenia strongly supports both the Global Compact on Migration and the Global compact on Refugees. We also believe that the Comprehensive refugee response framework (CRRF) can become an important guidance for further implementation of collective commitments towards refugees.
We are pleased to note that the Global Compacts truly reflect the holistic approach with forward looking and action oriented commitments. They will enable us to strengthen international cooperation on protection, fight against trafficking in human beings, share responsibility and realization of the rights of every child and many other aspects.
This is the time to translate our political commitments embodied in the SDGs and in the both compacts into actions.
We believe that for the implementation of the pledge of leaving no one behind, the universal application of human rights should be ensured equally and without any discrimination to all people in need, regardless of their location and irrespective of the political status of the territory that they live in. There should be no grey areas.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The phenomenon of migration has always been a part of Armenian realities. Armenians have a vast and widespread diaspora in all of the world.
Other realities in our lives have been harder. We have received over 360 000 refugees from Azerbaijan in 1998-1992 as a result of ethnic cleansings of Armenians in Azerbaijan.
Lately a large number of refugees from Syria sought protection in Armenia, on per capita basis making our country third largest recipient of Syrian refugees in Europe. There are doctors, lawyers, people with other professions and entrepreneurial skills among them.
Syrian Armenians, whose ancestors found refuge in Syria one hundred years ago after fleeing massacres and mass deportations, during the Armenian Genocide, were among those who were again forced to flee. The Government of Armenia cannot and will not step aside and watch silently. Measures to mitigate the sufferings of the war affected population have been taken. Batches of humanitarian aid were dispatched and distributed in Aleppo, Damascus, Latakia, Kesab and other war torn regions of Syria.
On the other hand, for those hosted in Armenia integration efforts have been undertaken.
Both the Government and the people of Armenia note with appreciation and respect skills and entrepreneurial experience of the persons displaced from Syria who found refuge in our country. These skills are useful for the promotion of the development agenda, particularly focusing on small and medium enterprise development, and on the other hand it enhances the integration potential.
The Government of Armenia makes utmost efforts in providing for the most rapid integration of these refugees into the society. For these reason our new government has started the process of comprehensive review of the integration policy.
We have taken the approach and is offering several protection options as well as a set of benefits to persons displaced from Syria, including accelerated asylum-procedures, facilitated naturalization for the ethnic Armenians and residence permits. The State provides housing, temporary housing, free medical assistance and scholarships, supports people in setting up businesses.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In committing to the realization of the ambitious 2030 Agenda Member States recognized that the Agenda’s goals and targets should be met for all nations and people and for all segments of the society, with a pledge leaving on one behind.
SDG Goal 4 of 2030 agenda is aimed at ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. For that reason, we provide educational opportunities for refugees and migrants.
SDG Goal 8 is to promote sustained inclusive and sustainable economic growth full and productive employment and decent work for all. Migrants in our society have been provided with job opportunities in different fields. Armenian Government has provided various support packages and as a result many business plans have been developed jointly with migrants.
In addition to displaced persons from Syria, Armenia is also hosted refugees and displaced population from Ukraine, Iraq and, in smaller numbers, from other countries of Africa and Asia.
Notwithstanding the mentioned achievements, challenges remain in addressing the needs of new arrivals, of the most vulnerable among the displaced and in finding durable housing solutions and long term employment and income sources. Thus, it is important to maintain sufficient level of support by UNHCR and other international partners to transform the immediate emergency humanitarian response measures into longer-term efforts aiming at durable solutions.
Our responses to large movements of people should be grounded in our common values of equitable responsibility sharing, non-discrimination and respect of human rights. We also strongly believe that the plight of refugees and the humanitarian response in addressing challenges associated with unprecedented numbers of refugees and displaced persons should not become subject to political trade-offs and manipulations.
We strongly believe that the international community must take decisive steps to develop early warning and, more important, early action mechanism, to prevent mass exoduses and displacement. We believe not only in the primary importance of early warning but also the need to address root-causes of the existing problems.
I thank you