The Council of Europe has launched on 11 April 2024 a comprehensive response package to the refugee influx in Armenia of €2.8 million. As part of the package, the Council of Europe has launched four new initiatives and incorporated additional components into two ongoing projects. “The response package aims at protecting the human rights of refugees, resilience of the local communities, social rights, children and women, and support to human rights institutions”, underlined Claus Neukirch, Director of Programme Co-ordination of the Council of Europe. “The response package supports authorities with addressing capacity constraints in many areas that are critical not only to refugees but to all people with vulnerabilities”, said David Best, Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees of the Council of Europe.
“Following the influx of refugees in September 2023, the Government of Armenia did its best to provide a quick response to the refugees’ influx. The response includes short-, mid-, and long-term measures of support. Now we are in the stage of long-term measures. Cooperation with the Council of Europe is very important to us, and we highly value the support of the Council of Europe and its response package to the refugees’ influx”, said the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of Armenia Narek Mkrtchyan.
For instance, access to healthcare, including mental health, will be improved through strengthening capacities of 2,000 healthcare professionals to provide better psychological and health care for refugees. Rights of children in the post-war context will be protected through legal and policy support in line with Council of Europe standards: civil servants and other professionals will be better equipped to effectively safeguard the rights of children in Armenia impacted by the conflict, including those who are unaccompanied and separated. Awareness among children and parents of effective guardianship principles and of the prevention of violence against children will be raised.
Extensive support will be provided to human rights institutions, in particular the Human Rights Defender’s Office (the Ombudsperson) to enhance the capacities of their staff members on high-risk environment and stress management, and to help them to promote more efficiently the social rights of people from vulnerable groups, including refugees from the Karabakh region.
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A particular focus will be put on advancing a relevant legislative and policy framework in line with European standards, ensuring that displaced individuals benefit fully from their human rights. Notably, the draft Strategy on integration and reintegration will be evaluated and the Law on Refugees and Asylum will be assessed under one of the projects.
New projects to be launched as part of the package:
- Strengthening Human Rights Safeguards
- Enhancing Social Human Rights
- Protecting Children’s Rights
- Support to Host Communities
Ongoing projects with new components added:
- Promoting Gender Equality and Ending Violence against Women
- Protection of Human Rights in Biomedicine
The package of measures is a result of the visit by the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees (SRSG) in October 2023, during which specific areas for support were jointly identified with the national authorities. The package is part of the Council of Europe’s Action Plan for Armenia (2023-2026) and the Action Plan on Protecting Vulnerable Persons within the context of migration and asylum (2021-25).
