Armenpress
UNHCR REVEALS FINDINGS OF SURVEY IN SYUNIK MARZ
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS: The Office of the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) in Armenia announced today preliminary results of the
survey in Syunik marz (province) which is designed to track down the
location of refugees as well as those refugees who have obtained Armenian
citizenship.
“The survey is being conducted in close cooperation with the Department
of Migration and Refugees (DMR) of the Armenian Government and the
authorities of Syunik region, and will feed into a comprehensive Report
which is called to compare living conditions of refugees, refugees who have
obtained Armenian citizenship and local population in the context of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” UNHCR Representative in Armenia, Peter
Nicolaus said.
To produce the Report UNHCR is going to collaborate with the Netherlands
Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), specializing in collecting
and analyzing economic and social development data, Nicolaus said, adding
that the results of the Report will then be shared with other UN agencies
for development of more targeted and efficient programs at a countrywide
level. The preliminary results revealed that in Syunik region there are no
more than 400 refugees and 3,500 refugees who have obtained Armenian
citizenship. “These results are relevant only for Syunik region and should
not be related to the whole country. The survey is still in the process
which means that UNHCR in cooperation with DMR will conduct similar surveys
in all other regions of Armenia in the near future,” Nicolaus stressed.
The survey will also allow UNHCR to better understand obstacles
preventing refugees from obtaining Armenian citizenship. “There are refugees
in Armenia who have not yet obtained Armenian citizenship, although they
have been given this opportunity by the Armenian Government. It is crucial
for UNHCR to reveal what keeps refugees from becoming Armenian citizens in
order to design alternative approaches and action plans,” Nicolaus noted.
UNHCR has been working in Armenia since 1993 with an overall mandate to
assist the Government of Armenia in protecting refugees and finding durable
solutions for them.