Armenia sticks to policy of refugees full integration

PanARMENIAN.Net - Amendments to RA Law "On Citizenship", initiated by the RA government, will extend the term of obtaining the Armenian citizenship by refugees and persons without citizenship till December 31, 2012, deputy minister of territorial administration of Armenia Vache Terteryan said.

According to him, more refugees will be able to receive citizenship during two years. The bill will be debated through special regulations, the second reading will be held immediately after the first one, within 24 hours.

Responding to MPs' questions about why out of 312 thousand refugees, only 80 thousand have acquired the Armenian citizenship so far, he said that refugees integrate into the society with difficulty but the process, however, is moving forward. “In contrast to Azerbaijan and Georgia, deliberately not facilitating their refugees’ integration, Armenia conducts a policy of full integration of its refugees into society,” Terteryan said.

According to chairman of the ARFD parliamentary group Vahan Hovhannisyan, the Armenian leadership initially made a political mistake. "Since Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan originally lived in Artsakh, they should have been settled in the liberated territories of NKR. Extension of the terms of obtaining citizenship is not a way out, for the true solution to the problem is not here, but in Artsakh," he said.